
Class. 
Book. 



:r^ 



Copyright N". 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




MRS. MARY ABIGAIL TAYLOR 



THE HISTORIC MEANING 
OF PROPHECY 



BY 

MRS. MARY ABIGAIL TAYLOR 



t 



And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, 
and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth 
it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it 
hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: tho it tarry, wait 
for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. 

— Habakkuk 2: 2, 8. 



To everything there is a season, and a time to every 
purpose under the Heaven.-— EcciiESiASTES 8: 1. 



Cincinnati : 
PRESS OF JENNINGS AND GRAHA^I 



^3 



Copyright, 1910, 

By Mrs. Mary Abigail Taylor. 

All Rights Reserved. 



C'CI,A278041 



Preface 

I OWE no apology for taking up a work that I believed 
to be of God's appointment; yet it is proper to explain 
how I was led to undertake it. 

Very early in life, even when a mere child, I began 
to feel an intense desire to understand the meaning of 
prophecy. As soon as I was able to read I read the Bible 
thru from Genesis to Eevelation. Later I read everything 
I could get that was supposed to throw any light upon 
the revelations of the Bible. I gave my heart to God in 
my fifteenth year, was honored by the Holy Spirit of adop- 
tion, took up my cross, and became a follower of Jesus; 
and from that time and on my desire for the knowledge 
of God and His Word was intensified. 

About the time I completed my forty-fourth year I 
laid all on the altar for Christ, and answered the call of 
the Holy Spirit by laying aside all secular matters as soon 
as I could so arrange, and taking up the study of the Holy 
Scriptures. About four and a half years later I surren- 
dered myself into the hands of God, to be used by Him 
in whatever way He should see best; and was again hon- 
ored by the Holy Spirit, who empowered me for the work 
in which I have since been engaged, as a student of the 
Bible along prophetic lines. 

I took up the study of prophecy, not from other writers- 
works, but from the Bible itself. I began with the plan 
of prophecy, believing that to be the key to the solution 
of its mysteries. In a general sense I perceived a seven- 

iii 



PREFACE 

day plan, and later the plan of the four great cycles, I 
then took up successively the study of the prophecy of 
Christ, and John^s Eevelation, and the Book of Daniel, 
and outlined and paraphrased all the Old Testament books 
of prophecy, after carefully comparing prophecy with 
prophecy and book with book; and also made a general 
outline of the four great cycles, and located the four 1,260- 
day cycles. After years of patient and persevering study 
in the exercise of the gift of God I succeeded in filling 
out the outline of the plan and in describing the various 
prophetic eras as the Bible reveals them. The plan and 
arrangement of the world cycles were more than a dis- 
covery to me: God opened my eyes, and I saw. 

I found it necessary to pay strict attention to the 
prophetic meaning of the various minor cycles that ap- 
peared in the plan, to the allegorical language with which 
the Bible abounds, and to the prophetic dates. In a sense, 
I was translating the Bible, not from the Hebrew or Latin 
or Greek, but from the best English versions translated 
from the original text and from the parabolic language of 
prophecy into plain English. 

It would require the writing of a very large volume to 
show how I obtained the prophetic links one by one, and 
how the prophetic viewpoints were obtained, and the dates 
of the various prophetic eras. Had I even given the ref- 
erences in full, there would be such a profusion of them 
as to be confusing to the reader. I have therefore given 
a condensed outline of the books of prophecy in the fore- 
part of the work, and a prophetic schedule; also some 
chronological outlines and an Illustrated Plan of the age. 

After the best that can be done, it will require patient 
and persevering study to enable any one to understand 
prophecy. A treatise on science can not of itself make any 
one scientific who has not the faculty for understanding 

iv 



PREFACE 

it, nor the inclination for study; and it is equally true 
that a treatise on prophecy can not of itself give any one 
skill to understand the revelations of the Bible. This work 
should be used as a handbook for the study of revelation; 
therefore keep a Bible at hand while reading it. Also 
study the outlines, and refer to them frequently, to see 
what part of the world^s age you are reading about. 

The greater portion of the prophecies by far refer to 
the coming 1,260-day cycle, which is the era that contains 
the seven trumpets. John is the only prophet who men- 
tions the seven seals and the seven trumpets; but the Old 
Testament prophets also wrote about those eras that John 
describes. The seven seals and the seven trumpets extend 
from the begmning of the Christian era to the beginning 
of the Millennial era. Prophecy is most profuse upon the 
sixth seal and sixth trumpet. Some prophets describe the 
progress of the Church, others describe the progress of 
Gentile dominion in the powers of the world, and others 
describe the progress of Antichrist, the minor prophets 
generally dwelling upon some particular eras. The major 
prophets describe the Church, the world powers, and the 
Antichrist by turns. The Bible method has been observed 
in this work by giving a description of the two spiritual 
powers in separate chapters. 

These are the best general suggestions that can be 
given, except the one most important of all, and that is 
the aid of the Holy Spirit. The person who reads prophecy 
as he reads history fails to apprehend it as a revelation 
from God. But it is even more than that: it is a revela- 
tion of God ; for that is the purpose of inspired revelation. 

The style of the Old Testament writers is usually po- 
etic, while John^s revelation is dramatic. The language 
of prophecy is highly figurative ; and the figures chiefly em- 
ployed are types and symbols, allegories, and the prophetic 

V 



PEEFACE 

use of nearer historic circumstances to describe analogous 
circumstances of a later time. There is a general har- 
mony among the Bible writers in the use of symbols, so 
that when different writers employ the same symbol it is 
to be understood in a similar interpretation. This uni- 
formity is to be accounted for in the reason that any one 
who was inspired to receive revelations from God was 
also gifted with an insight into the writings of other in- 
spired men. 

The prophetic writings abound in visions, which was 
the way usually employed by God for giving revelations 
to men; and such revelations were given thru inspired 
prophets of a superior type, who were empowered to speak 
as the oracles of God. For that reason they were often 
honored with supernatural power, which they exercised at 
the word of God in performing miracles or signs; altho 
these were not considered necessary for the credulity of a 
prophet. A true prophet would not contradict any word 
that God had already given, and the surest evidence of 
His authority was in the fulfillment of His words (Deut.' 
13:1-3; Jer. 28:9). For that reason many of their 
prophecies had a nearer and typical fulfillment as the seal 
of their authority, while the more remote and important 
circumstances of which they wrote would not be fulfilled 
for many centuries later. 

The Old Testament prophets employed the circum- 
stances and events of the era of the kingdoms of Israel and 
Judah to outline in type that later era of the latter days 
in which the kingdom, of heaven should be set up. In 
their literal and typical interpretation they would seem to 
be a strangely confused and incoherent collection of proph- 
ecies, because preference is given to the antitype; but in 
the light of the higher interpretation they give a beautiful 
and orderly outline of those times they are intended to de- 

vi 



PREFACE 

scribe. Such a method of revelation could not have been 
conceived by the mind of man: it was the mind of God. 

There is one important feature of prophecy that should 
not be overlooked. The wisdom of God saw that two cap- 
tivities would be necessary in order to correct Israel of 
their errors and backslidings, and that the lesson would 
have to be repeated in His Church of a later time. The two 
captivities referred to are the Egyptian captivity and the 
double captivity of Assyria and Chaldea; and those three 
great world powers of Israelis captivity are types in proph- 
ecy of three great Antichrist powers, that should be instru- 
mental in leading the Church into captivity. Egypt, As- 
syria, and Chaldea are the prophetic titles of those three 
forms of Antichrist, and their prophetic synonyms are 
Sodom, Ifineveh, and Babylon. 

Israel never became an independent nation until after 
the Egyptian captivity; and Christianity never rose in 
power, free from Eomish trammels, until after the Eefor- 
mation. The Apostolic era was the formative period of 
Christianity; and the long, dark night of the Church's 
Egyptian captivity was under the Papal power of Eome. 
After the Eeformation the Church found a home in the 
wilderness of America^ and the founding of the free 
American government of the United States gave to Prot- 
estantism a veritable Canaan. The two great Antichrist 
powers that are to be instrumental in the Church's future 
captivity have not yet appeared in the world. To that 
important era to which they belong do the prophecies of 
the Bible chiefly apply. 

The prophetic scope varies with the different prophetic 
writers; but the greater number by far dwell upon the 
era of the seven trumpets. The scope of Daniel extends 
from the time of the power of Babylon to the beginning 
of the Millennial era. The scope of John extends from 

vii 



PREFACE 

the beginning of the Christian dispensation to the end of 
this age of the world. The scope of Isaiah's prophecy ex- 
tends from the closing part of the fifth seal to the Sab- 
batic era. The other prophetic writers are more limited in 
scope and less general in character, each one presenting 
some particular features of the era of which he writes. 

Daniel's prophecy, which starts at the earliest point, 
reveals the origin of Antichrist, and each successive vision 
is a progressive revelation of that Satanic power. John 
gives a general outline of the full era of Christianity and 
describes the progress of both Antichrist and the Church. 
Isaiah's attention is directed chiefly to the progress of 
Christianity and Jewry, the two religious powers that are 
to be instrumental in developing the true Messianic idea. 

An Antichrist defection of the Jews has been predicted, 
altho it is hard to understand. Following up the prophetic 
circumstances, it can be seen to have its origin in the fra- 
ternal recognition that the two older forms of Antichrist 
shall extend to them in the era of the fourth trumpet, such 
recognition predisposing them to favor those two Anti- 
christ powers until they will at length recognize the claims 
of an Antichrist Messiah. Wherever the spiritual adultery 
of the Jews is described in Old Testament prophecy it re- 
fers prophetically to that era of Antichrist defections, and 
which will begin in the fourth trumpet and continue until 
the Jewish Eeformation of the sixth trumpet. 

A prophetic viewpoint is the period of which the writer 
speaks in the present tense, and from which he speaks 
prospectively or reflectively of the circumstances of which 
he writes. Prophetic writers often change their viewpoint 
from time to time, and it is necessary to carefully note the 
period to which the prophetic circumstances under consid- 
eration belong, in order to understand the language of 
imagery which is so frequently employed. The Bible 

yiii 



PREFACE 

abounds in allegories, enigmas, and other figures of speech, 
and also contains some beautiful charades. There are many 
prophetic hints, and all prophetic eras are distinctly dated 
and clearly outlined. 

In the language of prophecy, heaven stands for the 
spiritual or gospel dominion, the sphere of the Church: 
the earth stands for the legal dominion, the sphere of the 
government : the sea stands for the non-political world : 
and the pit or abyss means anarchy. The sun as the 
world^s greater light is the symbol of the gospel : and the 
moon as the world's lesser light is the symbol of the law. 
The stars are the leading lights of the Church, in its noted 
and eminent men. In prophecy the temple stands for 
Jewrj^, the temple in heaven for Christianity; and the 
temple of God means the Church universal. 

Mary Abigail Taylor. 



IX 



Contents 



Page 

Preface, - iii 

I. The Plan of Prophecy, - - . i 

II. The Prophecy of Christ, - - 8 

III. The Keyelation of Johk, - - - 18 

IV. Tabulated Outli^^e of the Kings of 

Israel akd Judah, - - - 42^ 

V. Old Testament Prophetic Outlines, 48 
Isaiah, 48 ; Jeremiah, 65 ; Ezekiel, 74 ; Daniel, 
92; Hosea, 96; Joel, 98; Amos, 100; Obadiah, 
102; Jonah, 102; Micah, 103; Nahum, 106; 
Habakkuk, 106 ; Zephaniah, 108 ; Haggai, 110 ; 
Zechariah, 111; Malachi, 119. 

VI. Prophetic Eras, 123 

VII. The Signs of the Times, - - - 129 

VIII. General View of Antichrist, - - 137 

IX. General View of the Church, - 156 

X. The Palse Messiah, - - . . 172 

XI. Character of the False Messiah, - 193 

XII. Antichrist Institutions, - - - 200 

XIII. The True Messiah, - - - - 210 
Eesurrection Charade, 228. 

XIV. Character of Gospel Authorities, - 233 
XV. Messianic Institutions, - - - 240 

XVI. The Personal Coming of Christ, - 251 

It 



CONTENTS 



Page 

XVII. Jewry in Prophecy, - - - 262 

XVIIL Protestantism in Prophecy, - - 290 

Prophetic View of Protestantism, 303. 
XIX. MOHAMMEDISM IN PrOPHECY, - - 308 

XX. A Chapter of Prophecy, - - - 317 

XXI. The World's Progressive Cycles, - 330 

XXII. Angels and Men, 344 

XXIII. The Two Trinities, - - - - 349 

XXIV. The Judgment and the New Creation, 353 
XXV. The Wonders of the Age, - - 359 



OUTLINES, TABLES, ETC. 

Prophetic Schedule, 121 

Prophetic Chronological Table, - - - 126 
Outline of the Seven Trumpets, and of the 

Millennial and Sabbatic Eras, - - 170 
Chronological Outline of The Sixth and 

Seventh Trumpets, 209 

The Three Messianic Weeks, - - . - 250 
Illustrated Plan of the World's Progressive 

Cycles, - - - 328 



The Illustrated Plan may be obtained as 
ten cents. 



a separate sheet. Price 



zSi 



THE HISTORIC MEANING 
OF PfiOPHECY 



CHAPTEE I 

The Plan of Prophecy 

A General View 

The Bible is not a history of the world in the ordi- 
nary sense, but it gives an outline of the plan of the world, 
from the beginning of the age of man to the end of 
the age. 

The plan of creation as it is given in the opening chap- 
ters of Genesis, is scientifically and historically true; but 
the figurative application is very clear, from the frequent 
use of the word day to denote a period of time (as in 
Job 19:25; Ezek. 30:2; John 6: 44; 8: 56; 9 : 4) ; in the 
allegorical meaning that Paul applies to the seventh day 
of creation in the third and fourth chapters of 'Hebrews; 
and in the revealed purpose of God to restore the world 
in the era called the New Creation, the world's Sabbatic 
era (Isa. 65:17; Eev. 21:1). 

The prophetic teachings of the Bible have both a his- 
toric and a doctrinal meaning. It is the purpose here to 
present the historic meaning, beginning with the beautiful 
allegory of the creation, as it applies to the. plan of the 
spiritual creation. 

1 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

The changes that took place upon our earth^s surface 
while the world was preparing to be the abode of man 
are described as they would appear to one living upon the 
earth. There was no distinction of sea and land^ and the 
surface of the earth was enveloped with heavy gases and 
vapors, thru which no ray of light could penetrate. When 
the vapors began to condense and clear away it began 
to be sufficiently light to make a distinction between night 
and day. Then the vapors began to ascend as clouds, 
leaving a firmament or expansion between the earth^s sur- 
face and the clouds. The water then settled in the lower 
depressions, leaving part of the surface as dry land. Vege- 
table life then appeared; the earth yielding grass, herbs, 
and trees. The clouds began to clear aAvay; and the sun, 
moon, and stars appeared. Then animated life in the 
lower forms began to appear in creatures adapted to water, 
as fishes and water fowl; then the higher forms of ani- 
mated life, in creatures adapted to dry land. Man was 
created last, or when the world became fully adapted to 
the highest order of animated being. 

Allegorical Paraphrase 

"In the beginning God created the heaven and the 
earth,^^ the spiritual arid the moral dominions. ^'The earth 
was without form and void.^^ The chaotic era of our race 
was the antediluvian era, when there were no organized 
forms of society. ^'And darkness was upon the face of 
the deep.^^ It was a long, dark night of moral and spir- 
itual darkness. Man's ideas were so badly perverted that 
"every imagination of the thought of his heart was only 
evil continually. '^ 

After the flood of waters swept away the wicked race, 
and the world began to be peopled anew, "the Spirit of 
God moved upon the face of the deep,'' the masses of man- 

3 



THE PLAN OP PEOPHECY 

kind, to bring about order in His moral creation. "God 
said, Let there be light :'' the world must have a knowledge 
of the truth. God called Abraham to be the founder of 
a nation, to whom He should commit His oracles, "to di- 
vide the light from the darkness,^^ or make a moral dis- 
tinction between right and wrong. 

The placing of the firmament was the next period of 
creation. The firmament or expansion was the space 
which separated the waters or clouds above the earth from 
the waters beneath, and suggests the idea of sanctification. 
The godly should be separated and distinguished from the 
ungodly. The separation of the nation of Israel from all 
other nations, and placing them under a theocratic gov- 
ernment, was the first step in that direction. 

In the third period of creation another important dis- 
tinction was made, and that was between the sea and the 
land, the sea being separated from the dry land. The 
earth or dry land in prophecy typifies the dominion of 
the government, while the sea typifies organized forms of 
society of a non-political character, and having no con- 
nection with the government. The two general classes of 
organized society would therefore be the political and the 
non-political. Grass and fruit are prophetic emblems of 
prosperity. 

In the fourth period of creation the sun and moon, 
the greater and the lesser lights, and the stars appeared. 
The moral law as the lesser, and the gospel as the greater 
light, were given in the Jewish and Christian institutions. 
Many bright stars appeared, as the Old Testament proph- 
ets; and later the bright morning star, the Christ incar- 
nate, and with Him a constellation of twelve stars, the 
apostles ; and other stars that rose in the Apostolic era. 

In the fifth day or period of creation animated life 
began to appear. The gospel is the power that quickens 

3 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

the moral creation into, life; and the preaching of the 
gospel thru out the world is quickening men morally and 
spiritually in the present gospel day. 

The sixth period of creation developed a higher form 
of animated life. Even so shall the moral creation be 
lifted up to a higher plane, both morally and spiritually, 
in the Messianic era, when the gospel of Christ shall be 
revealed in greater fullness of power in the world. 

The seventh day of creation was the advent of man, 
who was created on the eve of that day. He was the 
crowning work of God, for whom the six days^ work of 
preparation was made. The lifting up of the fallen race 
thru six successive eras will prepare the world for the 
seventh era of man, when the power of Christ thru His 
gospel shall fully restore their lost spiritual dominion to 
mankind. 

We have viewed the world^s creative week as an alle- 
gory of a finished spiritual creation; and since the day 
and night of each era is distinctly noted, it appears that 
the two spiritual powers of light and darkness, or good 
and evil, are to be revealed thru seven successive eras. 
Neither of the two powers is subject to any change of 
character; but their outward revelation is progressive. 
The night of Satan never ceases, and never will cease, 
imtil his kingdom shall be put down at its close. Each 
successive era reveals some special feature of that kingdom 
of darkness, some fuller manifestation of its character, and 
is sealed with the stamp of divine vengeance or God^s in- 
dignation against sin. 

The antediluvian era, when society was in its chaotic 
stage, was an era of anarchy and wickedness, and the en- 
tire race were swept away, with the exception of Noah 
and his family. After the flood of Noah the world was 
peopled anew under a different order of things. Life was 

4 



THE PLAX OF PROPHECY 

greatly shortened, that the ideas and customs of each gen- 
eration might not so much affect the generation succeed- 
ing it as to interfere with those changes for which the 
world was planned. Patriarchal government gradually 
gave way to general government. But the kingdoms of 
those times were grossly wicked; and the things charged 
against Sodom, Avhere wickedness reached its climax, were 
pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness; and 
they did not strengthen the hand of the poor and needy, 
and they were haughty, and committed abomination (Ezek. 
16:49). The call of Abraham w^as the first step toward 
an institution of divine appointment, and God overthrew 
the cities of the plain in a storm of fire and brimstone. 

The nations at length became corrupted thru idolatrous 
perversions, until worship was made to represent every- 
thing wicked and sensual. Moses was then sent to organ- 
ize a theocratic government, in order to restore the true 
knowledge of God; and the nation of Israel were sent 
against the idolatrous nations of Canaan where wickedness 
was most rife, upon a war of extermination. 

After the petty governments consolidated, and in- 
creased in power, they became oppressive. The Old Testa- 
ment prophets testified against the tyranny of those times, 
and the cup of fury in the desolations of war passed from 
nation to nation, beginning with Israel. 

The ceremonial law at length lost its true meaning to 
the Jews ; and the opposition to righteousness of a divinely 
appointed institution that has grown corrupt was made 
manifest in the Jews when they killed the Prince of life, 
the Messiah of prophecy; and that crime was sealed by 
the siege and destruction of Jerusaleni. 

Paganized Christianity was a later Satanic develop- 
ment. Pagan Eome embraced Christianity, and then cor- 
rupted it. That era of Satan was a dark night, when 

5 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

people Meandered from sea to sea, seeking the word of God, 
and could not find it, because it was taken from them. 
It was a night when no man could work, because of the 
fierce opposition of gospel truth; and the night of that 
dark age was sealed by the thirty years^ war of Europe 
(A. D. 1618-1648). 

The future revelation of Satan's kingdom will be dis- 
tinguished for the opposition of Antichrist against the 
True Messiah at a time when the world shall be aspiring 
for the Messianic kingdom. It will be a long, dark night; 
but the word of prophecy teaches that it will be the end 
of Satan's kingdom, and the close of that era will be 
sealed by a thirty years' overthrow of the powers of dark- 
ness. After the Millennial era Satan will go out as a 
deceiver; but his attempt to bring the world back to an- 
archy will fail. His dominion in the world will have 
ended. 

The light of ihe gospel day is continuous, like the dark- 
ness of the world's night. It is a "light that shineth in 
darkness, tho the darkness apprehendeth it not." The dark- 
ness exists thru the gospel eras, until the end of Satan^s 
kingdom, but is more apparent during the eras of his 
power. That is also true of the light of the gospel. The 
light is in the world all the time, but is more apparent 
during the eras of gospel power. 

In the world's night of anarchy the gospel was preached 
by Enoch and Noah. Abraham succeeded Noah as the 
world's leading representative of faithfulness to God. The 
establishment of the theocratic government of Israel was 
the beginning of organization for the dissemination of 
truth. The government of Israel was not a kingdom, and 
contained the idea of self-government. It was distin- 
guished for equity and for the true worship of God, a 
divinely authorized code of laws and a divine instituted 

6 



THE PLAN" OF PROPHECY 

system of worship. After the times of the judges there 
arose an illustrious line of inspired prophetic writers, who 
taught that there would be a new era for the restoration 
of the race in what they called the last days, and the plan 
of salvation is outlined in their prophecies. That era of 
prophecy is distinguished for an insight into God's plan. 

We now come to the beginning of the latter days of 
which the prophets wrote. The Savior of prophecy, the 
Son of God, was made manifest in the flesh and revealed 
to the world. He put an end to the Jewish sacrifices by 
the one perfect offering of Himself (Heb. 10:12); and 
the twelve apostles who followed Him founded the Chris- 
tian institution. We learn from the prophecies of the 
Bible that the world shall be fully evangelized before the 
end of this gospel era. That time has not yet been ful- 
filled. We are living in the gospel day of Protestantism, 
which is noted for missionary activity, and before the day 
closes every nation of both hemispheres will have the gos- 
pel preached to them (Xum. 14:21; Isa. 6:3). 

In the future era of the seven trumpets Christ will be 
revealed in Plis Messianic character, and the distinguish- 
ing gospel features of that era will be the building up of 
a gospel Messianic institution, the correction of errors of 
doctrine and practice, and lastly a great Messianic victory 
for Christ. 

That era will be succeeded by the Millennial era, when 
Christ shall exercise Messianic authority over the nations 
of the world, and will be distinguished for Christ's Messi- 
anic Kingdom. 

The Sabbatic era will end this age, and will be distin- 
guished for the new order of things and for the perfect 
restoration of the race. 



CHAPTER II 

The Prophecy of Christ 

The event of our Lord's prophecy concerning His com- 
ing to set up His kingdom, and of the end, or last era of 
the world preceding that time, was when the disciples 
called His attention to the building of the temple, and 
He replied that there should not be left one stone upon 
another that should not be thrown down. Before that He 
had wept over the city and foretold its destruction. It 
was on the first day of the week and after His triumphal 
entry into Jerusalem that He wept over the city; and it 
was on the third day following, as He and His disciples 
sat upon the Mount of Olives overlooking the city, that 
He delivered His prophecy. 

The disciples supposed the destruction of Jerusalem to 
have some connection with the establishment of Christ's 
kingdom, hence they put the double question, ^^When shall 
these things be?'^ and ^^What shall be the sign of Thy 
coming and of the end of the world (or age) T^ Our Lord 
adopts the usual style, of prophecy and describes the cir- 
cumstances connected with the destruction of Jerusalem 
to outline the events of a later time. The accounts of 
Matthew and Mark are almost verbatim, but Luke's ac- 
count should not be confused with the other two; for, al- 
tho there is a general resemblance between the two prophe- 
cies, they were delivered at different times. 

Luke reports our Lord's words which were uttered 
upon the spot, as they were looking at the temple; while 

8 



THE PROPHECY OF CHRIST 

Matthew and Mark report the words which He spoke in 
answer to the question they put to Him in private as they 
were seated upon the mount. In His first answer in the 
presence of the multitude He spoke of the tribulations and 
persecutions that were near at hand, and would culminate 
in the destruction of Jerusalem ; but interwoven with those 
near events were prophetic glimpses of parallel circum- 
stances that were in the distant future. In His prophecy 
on the Mount of Olives He launches out from the time of 
the false Christs at the beginning of the Christian era to 
the later rise of Antichrist and the era of the false Mes- 
siahs. The prophecy of Christ gives a general outline of 
the circumstances from the beginning of the Christian era 
until the time of His Messianic kingdom, 

^^Many shall come in My name.^^ 

The prophecies of the Old Testament had been ful- 
filled so far as they apply to the Jewish dispensation, and 
the fullness of time had come for the Messiah to appear. 
The Jewish nation was subject to the power of Rome, and 
they desired to throw off the iron yoke which that govern- 
ment had imposed upon them. The Jews expected the 
Christ to be their King, and believed that thru Him the 
kingdom would be restored to Israel. That phase of the 
Jewish mind even appeared in the interrogation of the 
disciples after the Lord's resurrection^ when they inquired, 
^^Wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom unto Israel ?^ 
The Jewish people believed that the Christ would establish 
and perpetuate the independence of the Jewish nation 
What else could they understand of the kingdom of heaven, 
since Israel was the nation chosen of God, and the Christ 
was to be of the royal line of David, whose kingdom 
would be an everlasting kingdom? 

When John began to preach, his great spiritual power 
caused all men to muse in their hearts whether he were 

9 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

the Christ or no. The Pharisees sent to ask him about the 
matter, and would have readily followed him had he offered 
to take the kingdom and free them from the Eomans. 
John said he was not the Christ, but that One much 
greater than himself should come after him; and the 
burden of his preaching was, ^^Eepent; for the kingdom 
of heaven is at hand/' Whom could he mean but the 
Christ? That was what they wanted; for they supposed 
the kingdom of heaven to mean the kingdom of Israel ; 
and multitudes confessed their sins and were baptized. 

But John's rejection of the Pharisees, who did not 
recognize their need of repentance, caused them to reject 
him; and later they also rejected the One of whom he 
bore witness. The time was ripe for a revolt against the 
Eomans, and the Lord's predictions concerning that time 
have been fulfilled. Many false Christs arose, and the 
Jews' obstinacy and perseverance in resisting Eomisli 
authority was based upon their desire to establish a Messi- 
anic kingdom according to their own ideas. 

^^There shall be wars and rumors of wars, nation rising 
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom : and there 
shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes. All 
these are the beginning of sorrows," or throes of the New 
Creation. 

The records of the early centuries of Christendom are 
largely composed of such circumstances as the above clause 
describes. Old empires went down, and new ones rose; 
and there have been eras of violent physical and political 
disturbances thruout the world in general. But the era 
of wars, famines, and desolations foretold in prophecy is 
to be at the time of the near approach of the Millennial 
era. Note the formidable army John introduces in his 
prophecy of the sixth trumpet. 

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and 

10 



THE PEOPHECY OF CHRIST 

shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for 
My name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and 
shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And 
many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 
And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall 
wax cold." 

The disciples of our Lord drank largely of the cup 
of persecution, and the Church after them drank of it 
to the dregs. The apostles saw causes working even in 
their day which would eventually bring about such cir- 
cumstances as the above paragraph of prophecy describes. 
The mystery of iniquity began to be revealed in the dark 
age of the Papacy; and prophecy foretells another perilous 
time, answering to the same general description, in the era 
to which the false prophet of John's prophecy belongs. 

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in 
all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then 
shall the end come.'' 

This is an era of great missionary activity; and mis- 
sionary zeal is the life of the Church. Wherever the gospel 
goes, it carries with it the advantages of education and 
civilization; and all the world must be evangelized before 
the end of this dispensation. But there will be another 
missionary era before the Millennial era shall begin (Rev. 
14:6), and to that gospel of the kingdom the prophecy 
more directly applies. The gospel of the kingdom will be 
preached to every nation on the face of the earth before 
the Millennial reign of Christ shall begin. The time of 
the end is to be connected with a circumstance mentioned 
by Daniel. 

"When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of deso- 
lation spoken of by Daniel the prophet standing in the 
holy place (whoso readeth let him understand), then let 
them which be in Judea flee to the mountains; let him 

11 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

that is on the housetop not come down to take anything 
out of his house: and let him that is in the field not 
return back to take his cloke. But woe unto them that 
are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 
And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither 
on a Sabbath/' 

The words in parenthesis hint at something that needs 
to be understood of the abomination of desolation. Dan- 
iers revelation shows that the world is to have another 
night, and at this clause of our Lord's prophecy he refers 
to a circumstance that shall take place at the beginning 
of that night. It is the initial event of the sixth seal, even 
tho the particular circumstances which Daniel mentions in 
similar terms shall be at a later time. The setting up 
of the abomination of desolation is a crisis that has oc- 
curred, and will occur again; and its general import is al- 
ways the same: it ushers in a reign of terror. One of 
those reigns of terror was near at hand, and was fulfilled 
in the siege of Jerusalem under Titus. The last will be 
at the close of the Millennial era, in the last uprising of 
Antichrist. /'Then let them that are in Judea flee to the 
mountains.'^ (See Luke's account.) 

In his first prophecy he speaks of the near destruction 
of Jerusalem ; but in his later prophecy, when he mentions 
the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the 
prophet, he refers directly to the seizure of the temple by 
Antichrist, at the beginning of the sixth seal, and counsels 
his people to save themselves by a timely and precipitate 
flight. Yet we are not to suppose that Antichrist's reign 
will be confined to Palestine alone, nor that the Jews will 
be the only people who will suffer. 

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not 
been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor 
ever shall be. And except those days had been shortened, 

12 



THE PEOPHECY OF CHKIST 

no flesh would have been saved : but for the elect's sake 
those days shall be shortened." 

The tribulation of the sixth seal, described by John, is 
undoubtedly to be identified with that of which our Lord 
was speaking. It will be of unparalleled severity, and is 
to be interpreted in the future rise of Antichrist, and bor- 
ders upon the era of the false Messiahs. 

^^Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the 
Christ, or, Lo, there, believe him not. For there shall arise 
false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great 
signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even 
the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand. If, there- 
fore, they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the wil- 
derness; go not forth: Behold, He is in the inner cham- 
bers; believe it nof 

It is the era of the false Messiahs, the perilous times 
of the last days, to which our Lord refers. The Anti- 
christ pretenders will endeavor to establish their claims 
thru their pretended miracles. Our Lord^s warning words 
are suitable to apply against all religious impositions; but 
it will be found especially necessary to heed them in the 
fu.ture era of Antichrist delusions. 

^Tor us the lightning cometh forth from the east, and 
is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the 
Son of man.'' 

The event of Christ's coming will be open, clear, and 
universal, and will not be restricted to local factions and 
secret assemblies. 

^Wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles (or 
vultures) be gathered together." 

This mysterious saying of our Lord is also found in a 
discourse to His disciples, as given by Luke (17:37), 
and occurred Avhen He was on His way to Jerusalem and 
before His discourses at the temple and on the Mount of 

la 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

Olives. It evidently lefers to an Antichrist convention, 
that will be followed by a destructive war. (See Eev. 19: 
17, 18.) 

"But immediately after the tribulation of those days 
the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give 
her light; and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the 
powers of heaven shall be shaken/' 

The great tribulation here described is the one of the 
sixth seal, and also includes the desolations of the first 
and second trumpets, wliicli will be a continuation of that 
tribulation, to be renewed after a season of peace. The 
great apostasy will set in at the beginning of the third 
trumpet and continue until the fourth trumpet. 

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in 
heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; 
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds 
of heaven with power and great glory.'' (See Daniel 
7:13.) 

Daniel places that event of the Lord's coming in the 
time of the fourth beast of his vision. The tribes or na- 
tions of the earth shall see the sign of the Son of man 
in heaven; but he adds that they shall see Him coming in 
the clouds of heaven. Daniel says He will come to the 
Ancient of days. 

"And He shall send forth His angels [gospel messen- 
gers] with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall 
gather together His elect from the four winds, from one 
end of heaven to the other." 

The elect will organize during the last three trumpets; 
and the bodies they shall represent will be massed in a 
great international convention a short time before the 
Millennial era. 

"Now from the fig-tree learn the parable : when the 
branch is now become tender and putteth forth its leaves, 

14 



THE PEOPHECY OF CHRIST 

ye know that the summer is nigh; even so ye also, when 
ye see all these things, know ye that He is nigh, even at 
the doors/^ 

T-he closing circumstances of Christ's prophecy border 
upon the Millennial era; hence the force of His words, 
^'He is nigh, even at the doors/' 

^^Yerily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass 
away till all these things be accomplished.'' The existing 
generation would not pass away until the breaking up of 
the Jewish politj^, which typified the future breaking up 
of all existing powers. The word ^^generation" is also 
used in a figurative sense for the existing type of Jews, 
that would not disappear until near the Millennial era. 

^*^Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall 
not pass away." Heaven and earth will pass away, first in 
the existing order of things in society, and afterward in 
the worlds distinguished as heaven and earth; but the 
words of Christ are immutable: they shall not pass away. 

^^But of that day and hour knoweth no one, not even 
the angels of heaven, neither the Son, but the Father 
only." Up to that time a clear revelation of the time of 
Christ's annunciation as the world's Messiah, and of other 
important epochs connected with it, had not been given. 
It was a secret locked up in the bosom of the Father until 
the time of its revelation thru the Apostle John. 

^^And as were the days of IsToah, so shall be the com- 
ing of the Son of man. For as in the days which were 
before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying 
and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered 
into the ark, and they knew not until the flood came and 
took them all away; so shall be the coming of the Son 
of man." 

The coming of Christ here refers to His Messianic 
Kingdom. There will be no marked interruption in the 

15 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

affairs of men, and the clear fulfillment of the prophetic 
circumstances leading up to that important event will be 
as little heeded as were the warning words of Noah by 
the antediluvian world. The carrying away of the people 
by the flood will also find a parallel case in a widespread 
calamity that shall overtake men in consequence of their 
opposition to Christ and of their failure to be prepared for 
Him at His coming. 

^Then shall two men be in the field ; one is taken, and 
one is left : two women shall be grinding at the mill ; one 
is taken, and one is left. Watch, therefore; for ye know 
not on what day your Lord cometh. But know this; that 
if the master of the house had known in what watch the 
thief was coming, he would have watched, and would noi 
have suffered his house to be broken thru. Therefore be 
ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son 
of man cometh.^^ 

The selection mentioned of persons mingling together 
in the daily affairs of life is intended to show that the in- 
timated calamity will be sudden and unexpected. Even 
the knowledge of its near approach will not suffice to save 
such as shall not watch and be prepared for it. 

"Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his 
lord hath set over his household, to give them their food 
in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, 
when he cometh, shall find so doing. Verily I say unto 
you, that he will set him over all he hath. But if that 
evil servant shall say in his heart. My lord tarrieth; and 
shall begin to beat his fellow-servants, and shall eat and 
drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall 
come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour 
when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and ap- 
point his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weep- 
ing and gnashing of teeth.'^ 

16 



THE PEOPHECY OF CHEIST 

Our Lord here teaches that the time of waiting for 
the ushering in of the Millennial era will seem long, and 
some will grow weary of the delay. 

In our exposition of the Lord^s prophecy we have 
shown that He answered the disciples^ question, and neither 
more nor less. He gave a general outline of the circum- 
stances that should intervene, from the beginning of the 
Christian era to the beginning of the Millennial era. The 
parable of the wise and foolish virgins applies to the bring- 
ing in of the Jews. The parable of the talents shows that 
selection under the Messianic administration of the Son 
of man will be based upon character that has been pre- 
viously tested and approved. The parable of the sheep and 
goats illustrates the Messianic administration of the Son 
of man, when the two great powers of Christ and Antichrist 
shall be massed, before and during the Millennial era. 

The pretended Christs and false prophets of the Apos- 
tolic era; the wars, famines, and pestilences that prevailed 
at times for many centuries; the protracted era of perse- 
cution by Antichrist; and the era of the world-wide spread 
of the gospel, now progressing toward its fulfillment, — are 
the signs already fulfilled of the coming of Christ. The 
great tribulation; the era of the false Messiahs, including 
the great apostasy ; the visible sign of the Son of man ; the 
rise of anarchy, and of a Messianic gospel power; the wars 
and desolations that shall prevail in the closing centuries 
of that era; the massing of the two great powers of Christ 
and Antichrist; and the sudden and unexpected visitations 
that shall fall upon the whole world, — are the coming signs 
of the end, or last eras of the age. 



17 



CHAPTEE III 

The Revelation of John 

John divides the Christian era into seventeen periods, 
viz. : The seven seals, the seven trumpets, the thousand 
years^ reign of Christ, the short period of Satan after the 
thousand years, and the world's Sabbatic era, figuratively 
called the New Creation. 

The apostle was commissioned to write the things which 
he saw, and the things which are, and the things which 
shall come to pass hereafter; and it may be interpreted 
as referring to tlie entire plan of the age, present, past, 
and future, which has a close connection thruout. In a 
wider sense, the things which were, and the things which 
are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter, in- 
clude three ages, which are the age of the human race, 
with the one that preceded and the one that shall follow it. 

The m^essages to the seven Churches apply to the 
Church in general during the era of the seven trumpets. 
The angels of the seven trumpets are seven Messianic 
authorities, one for each trumpet. 

"And behold, a door opened in heaven,'^ s}^mbolizing a 
revelation of the heaven] ies. The throne set in heaven 
with one upon it, represents the dominion of Christ within 
the Church. The rainbow round about the throne typifies 
the preservation of the Church under the dominion of 
Christ. The four and twenty elders, the double of twelve, 
signifies tbat both Jews and Christians are included in the 

18 



THE REVELATION OF JOHN 

gospel plan; the nation of Israel being founded by the 
twelve patriarchs, and the Christian institution being 
founded by the twelve apostles of Christ. Each elder had 
a throne and a crown, to signify that the authority of the 
Church was vested in the Church, and not in a Messiah. 
The lightnings, voices, and thunder portend a threatened 
catastrophe. The seven lamps before the throne ^^are the 
seven spirits of God^^ and in a general sense embrace 
Christ's spiritual kingdom. The glassy, crystal sea typifies 
a solid but pure and non-political institution. The four 
living creatures full of eyes are the four great continents, 
teeming with animated beings. 

The sealed book is presented, and no one is able to open 
it but the lion of the tribe of Judah. He appears as a 
lamb that has been slain, which shows that the starting 
point of the revelation now entered upon is the beginning 
of the Christian era, when the Lamb of God w^as slain 
for the sins of the world. The seven horns of the Lamb 
symbolize the Church universal in its aggressive character ; 
and the seven eyes of the Lamb, which are the seven spirits 
of God sent forth into all the earth, typifies a universal 
missionary era of the Church. The elders and saints unite 
in prayer and praise to the Lamb and pronounce a seven- 
fold benediction, and every created thing ascribes to the 
Lamb blessing and honor and glory and dominion. Uni- 
versality is the keynote of this prophecy. It is the pro- 
phetic forecast of Christ's Messianic reign thru the evan- 
gelization of the world. 

The opening of the first four seals reveals four suc- 
cessive eras of the Church and four successive classes of 
people that should predominate in the Church. The color 
of the horse symbolizes the character of the rider; and 
they are arranged in a descending scale, from the most pure 
down to the very worst. The white horse of righteousness 

19 



THE HISTORIC MEANmG OF PEOPHECY 

and peace first appears; then the red horse of war; then 
the black horse of famine (Amos 8:11); and then the 
pale horse of death. The meaning can be readily inter- 
preted. There should be a general and gradual decline 
after the Apostolic era until the Christian institution 
should wholly depart from its original character. 

The opening of the fifth seal revealed underneath the 
altar the souls of them that were beheaded for the Word 
of God and for the testimony which they held; and they 
cried with a loud voice^ "How long, Master, the holy 
and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on 
them that dwell on the earth ?^' The people of God are 
described as having passed thru an era of persecution, and 
the time had been long; and the souls of the martyrs who 
suffered in that persecution are represented as crying to 
God to know how long vengeance and judgment should be 
deferred. "And it was said unto them that they should 
rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also 
and their brethren who should be killed even as they were 
should have fulfilled their course.^^ There should be an- 
other era of persecution after a season of rest; and that 
the prophet now proceeds to describe. 

Upon the opening of the sixth seal there was a great 
earthquake, symbolic of political agitation. "The sun be- 
came black as sackcloth of hair,^^ the light of the gospel 
being wholly obscured. "The whole moon became as 
blood,^^ the legal dominion becoming a murderous institu- 
tion. A Satania power will get the control of the govern- 
ment, and gospel work will be forcibly restrained thru 
murderous assaults. Then the stars, the leading lights of 
the Church, will fall and desert their posts by going over 
to the enemies^ side to save themselves from violence. 
^^The heaven was removed as a scroll when it is rolled up.'^ 
The Church will not be destroyed, but laid aside ; her work 

^0 



THE EEVELATIOIs" OF JOHN 

suspended. "^^And every mountain and island were moved 
out of their places.'^ There will be a general shaking of 
things both of Church and State. 

^^And the kings of the earth, and the princes, and the 
chief captains, and the rich, and the strong, and every 
bondsman and freeman,^^ all classes of people, ^'^hid them- 
selves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains ; and 
they say to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us, 
and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the 
throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great 
day of their wrath is come ; and who is able to stand T^ 

The opening of the sixth seal describes a great political 
agitation, ushering in a reign of terror that will affect the 
world in general. It illustrates the meaning of that pro- 
phetic circumstance which is called the setting up of the 
abomination of desolation. The commotions of that time 
will at length be called to a halt. 

^^After this I saw four angels standing at the four 
corners of the earth,^^ to be interpreted in an international 
act for controlling those social disturbances. "And I saw 
another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of 
the living God.^' A great religious revival will originate 
in the East. "The four angels to whom it was given to 
hurt the earth and the sea,^^ represent anarchy in its initial 
stage. These are to be restrained, that gospel work may 
proceed, until the servants of God shall be sealed. The 
seal stamps a thing as genuine and authentic. The mean- 
ing is that the servants of God will be genuine in char- 
acter, and not as the stars of the Church who fell under 
Antichrist. They were sealed in their foreheads, the seat 
of intellect, and representing the spiritual nature of man 
(Eph. 4:30). The number sealed were twelve thousand 
of each tribe. Israel represents the people of God; the 
twelve tribes include all Israel, and the square of twelve 

21 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

thousand stands for the full number. All the Church 
will be sealed, and the seal of the Holy Spirit will be the 
evidence of true discipleship. 

^^ After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude that 
no man could number, out of all nations and tribes, and 
peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and be- 
fore the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their 
hands ; and they cried with a great voice, saying. Salvation 
unto our God who sitteth on the throne, and unto the 
Lamb. And all the angels were standing round about the 
throne, and about the elders and the four living crea- 
tures/^ 

The sevenfold benediction and other characteristic fea- 
tures of the Apostolic Evangelistic era are here introduced. 
The meaning is that a universal Evangelistic era will fol- 
low after the reign of terror, and Christianity of the apos- 
tolic character will be restored by such as ^^come out of the 
great tribulation and washed their robes, and made them 
white in the blood of the Lamb.^^ The great tribulation 
will therefore be corrective; and the future blessed estate 
of the people of God, when He shall ^Vipe away every 
tear from their eyes,^^ will begin prospectively to appear. 

^^And when He opened the seventh seal, there followed 
a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And 
I saw the seven angels that stand before God; and there 
was given unto them seven trumpets.^^ 

The mention of the seven trumpets at the opening of 
the seventh seal denotes that the era of the seven trum- 
pets is about to begin. The Prophetic era of the silent 
half hour is therefore very short. The Jewish offering of 
incense occupied about half an hour, during which time 
the people bowed their heads in silent prayer. The mean- 
ing of the prophetic silent half hour is the Church at 
prayer, or an international prayer service. An important 

22 



THE REVELATIOX OF JOHN 

epoch has been reached in the founding of a Messianic 
Christian institution : the perilous times of the false Mes- 
siahs is about to begin^ and the first Antichrist Messiah 
is about to be inaugurated. 

The figure next introduced is that of an angel stand- 
ing at the altar^ with a golden censer full of incense, to 
give with the praj^ers of the saints upon the golden altar 
before the throne. After the offering of the incense the 
angel filled the censer with fire of the altar and cast it 
upon the earth. 

The prophet is explaining the season of prayer, its 
meaning and its purpose. The offering of incense before 
the throne signifixcs that the Church is praying for the 
Messianic reign of Christ. The incense and prayers went 
up before God, which means that their petitions were ac- 
cepted. The filling of the censer with fire of the altar, and 
casting it into the earth, means that the prayers of the 
Church will be followed by an effort to cleanse the legal 
dominion of its corruptions. There will be a general effort 
to bring about a governmental reformation and to purge 
away political corruptions. ^*^And there followed thunders, 
and voices, and lightnings, and an earthquake,^^ the omens 
of the coming storms of international wars. Then the 
seven angels prepared themselves to sound. The era of 
the seven trumpets then began. 

The first angel sounded; and the storm, which was 
before threatening, then began; hail of lead, and fire of 
gunpowder, mingled with the blood of the wounded and 
dying. 'The third part of the earth was burnt up;" one- 
third of the government's resources were consumed: ^^and 
the third part of the trees was burnt up;" many of the 
nation's eminent men were destroyed: ^^and all green 
grass was burnt up;" the country's prosperity was wholly 
ruined. 

23 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

"And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great 
mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea.'' A 
strong and stable institution, threatened with destruction, 
will be compelled to change its base. The burning moun- 
tain was cast into the sea, or outside of the dominion of 
the government, to take its place among the non-political 
institutions of the world. "And the third part of the sea 
became blood." There will be a non-political international 
war. "And there died the third part of the creatures 
which were in the sea, even they that had life," the lives 
that were sacrificed in the conflict. "And the third part 
of the ships were destroyed.'^ It will be a great naval en- 
counter upon the high seas, 

"And the third angel sounded, and there fell from 
heaven a great star, burning as a torch; and it fell upon 
the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of 
waters." 

The fountains are the educational institutions, and the 
rivers are the societies that are connected with them. 
The star fell from heaven, the dominion of the Church. 
It was a blazing star, a comet ; and its characteristic name 
was Wormwood. A noted ecclesiast, famed for his learn- 
ing and influence, will embrace hurtful and dangerous doc- 
trines and become an apostate, and many will become cor- 
rupted thru him. Death by the poisoned waters typifies 
the baneful effects of the Wormwood doctrines. 

"And the fourth angel sounded, and the third part of 
the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and 
the third part of the stars.'^ 

There will be a partial obscuring of both the gospel 
and the government. Both the Church and the State will 
be crippled. The voice of the Eagle in mid-heaven con- 
nects those circumstances with the woes of the succeed- 
ing three trumpets. It is here that the little Horn of 

24 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHN 

Daniel begins to rise, who shall purpose to change the 
times and the laws. 

"And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fallen 
unto the earth/^ one of the Wormwood type figuring at 
a later time. "And there was given to him the key of the 
abyss ;^^ he will be a leader of anarchy. "And he opened 
the pit of the abyss/^ or led in an anarchistic movement. 
^'And there went up a smoke out of the pit as the smoke 
of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were darkened 
by reason of the smoke of the pit.^^ The gospel and the 
light of the gospel will be partially obscured. It is anarchy 
figuring as a politico-religious power. 

"And out of the smoke came forth locusts upon the 
earth/^ f=ymbolizing the formation of an anarchistic body 
of a political character. Those locusts are of a formidable 
type; yet it is their avowed purpose not to affect the pros- 
perity of the country (the grass), nor of the community 
(the trees) ; "but only such men as have not the seal of 
God on their foreheads/^ or do not belong to the true 
evangelical type. These are not to be killed, but tor- 
mented; "and their torment was as the torment of a scor- 
pion when it striketh a man.^^ They will severely sting 
(with reproaches) the people they shall seek to persecute. 
"In those days men shall seek deaths and shall in no wise 
find it : and they shall desire to die, and death fleeth from 
them.^^ The persecutions of anarchj^ will make men weary 
of their lives. This is the power that Daniel said should 
wear out the saints of the Most High. Their king^s name 
is Abaddon or Apollyon, which means Destroyer; and he 
leads an army of destroyers. That era of Anarchy is to 
last five prophetic months, or one hundred and fifty years. 

"And the sixth angel j^ounded^ and I heard a voice 
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before 
God,^' the altar of incense, the emblem of prayer, "saying 

25 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

to the angel which had the trumpet. Loose the four angels 
which are bound at the great river Euphrates/' (See 
chapter 7:2, 3.) The Euphrates was the seat of Babylon, 
and Babylon is the prophetic name for the third form of 
Antichrist. This prophetic hint shows from what source 
the desolations of that era shall proceed. ^^And the four 
angels were loosed, which had been prepared for the hour 
and day and month and year [the sixth and seventh 
trumpets], to kill the third part of men.'' Their number 
is ten thousand times ten thousand; and John observes, 
"I heard the number of them," a prophetic hint of the 
importance that will attach to the knowledge of their nu- 
merical strength. Their prophetic description shows that 
they will assume a more formidable character than in the 
preceding era. It is Anarchy coming into power at a later 
time. In their former era they hurt, but did not kill; 
but now they kill the third part of men, by the fire and 
the smoke and the brimstone which proceed out of their 
mouths. Their horses have heads of lions and tails of 
scorpions, showing that they will continue in their former 
character, and will labor to both persecute and destroy. 

^^And I saw another strong angel coming down out of 
heaven." The prophet here gives a view of the Cliurch 
in an era contemporaneous with the preceding circum- 
stances. The angel was *^^arrayed with a cloud; and the 
rainbow was upon his head." The rainbow and cloud 
symbolize preservation thru peril. The Church will be 
safely piloted thru a perilous time. ^^His face was as 
the sun," a revelation of gospel power; "and his feet as 
pillars of fire," to symbolize practical reformation. "He 
had in his hand a little book open," to signify the ful- 
fillment of prophecy. "He set his right foot upon the 
sea, and his left foot upon the earth," including both 
the political and non-political world; "and he cried with 

»6 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHN 

a great voice as a lion roareth/' The roaring of a lion 
is an omen of approaching danger. The voice of the 
angel is to be interpreted in a rousing appeal, warning 
society in general of an impending peril. "And when he 
cried the seven thunders uttered their voices/' the omens 
of a general storm, to be interpreted in an international 
war of universal proportions. "And when the seven thun- 
ders uttered their voices I was about to write," to explain 
their meaning; "and I heard a voice from heaven, saying. 
Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and 
write them not.^^ The omens of the approaching peril will 
not be understood. "And the angel . . . sware . . . 
that there should be delay no longer; but in the days of 
the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to 
sound, then is finished the mystery of God, according to 
the good tidings which He declared to His servants the 
prophets,^^ in the bringing in of a better era of the world. 
The open book was eaten, to signify that there should be 
another prophetic revelation, "over many peoples and na- 
tions and tongues and kings.^^ 

"And there was given unto me a reed like unto a 
rod: saying, Eise, and measure the temple of God, and 
the altar, and them that worship therein. And the court 
which is without the temple leave without, , , . and 
the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two 
months.'^ 

The holy city represents the Church; and the temple 
as the place of worship and teaching represents the doc- 
trines of the Church^ The altar is for sacrifice, and sug- 
gests consecration. The rod is used for correction. To 
measure the temple with the rod would therefore mean 
to examine the doctrines of thu Church for the purpose 
of correcting its errors. To measure the worshipers would 
be to lead them into a practical conception of those doc- 

87 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

trines^ that they may live or measure up to them. There 
is to be a radical reformation; but it is to be confined 
to the Church, since the outer court, which represents the 
outside Avorld, is to be trodden under foot. This treading 
down is to continue forty and two months, or to the end 
of the time of the trumpets. . 

"And I will give unto my two witnesses, and they 
sliall prophesy a thousand and two hundred and threescore 
days,^^ or to the end of the 1^,2 6 0-day period, "clothed ill 
sackcloth,^^ symbolic of mourning, while the outer court 
is trodden under foot. "These are the two olive-trees and 
the two candlesticks,^^ the Jewish and the Christian in- 
stitutions. Those two witnesses are to be endued with 
marvelous power. "And when they shall have finished 
their testimony the beast that cometh up out of the abyss,^' 
the anarchistic Antichrist power and their representative 
leader, "shall make war with them, and overcome them, 
and kill them.'^ 

"The great city which spiritually is called Sodom and 
Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified," is a pro- 
phetic hint, pointing to Eome. "And after three days 
and a half the breath of life from God entered into them, 
and they stood upon their feet." Christian testimony will 
be silenced for three years and a half, and then the cause 
of the gospel will revive again. "In the same hour there 
was a great earthquake," a great political agitation, "and 
the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in 
the earthquake, names of men seven thousand." The agi- 
tation will be disastrous to Antichrist. This is the end 
of the second woe, which shows that the circumstances of 
the two witnesses will be the closing events of the sixth 
trumpet. 

"Behold, the third woe cometh quickly ,^^ following soon 
upon the last event of the second woe. "And the seventh 

28 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHN 

angel sounded, and there followed great voices in heaven, 
and they said. The kingdom of the world is become the 
kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He shall 
reign for ever and ever. And the four and twenty elders? 
who sit before God upon their thrones fell upon their 
faces and worshiped God, saying. We give Thee thanks, 
Lord God, the Almighty, who art, and who wast; be- 
cause Thou hast taken Thy great power, and didst reign/^ 
This is the last time John mentions the thrones of the 
elders. ^^And the nations were wroth, and Thy wrath came, 
and the time of the dead to be judged,'^ in their char- 
acter and in their works ; ^^and to give their reward to Thy 
servants the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that 
fear Thy name, the small and the great,'' all classes of 
righteous people; ^^and to destroy them that destroy the 
earth,^' the corrupt x4.ntichrist and anarchistic powers. 

^^And there was opened the temple of God that is in 
heaven ; and there was seen in His temple the ark of His 
covenant.^' The opening of the temple of God means the 
resuming of gospel work. The ark of the covenant con- 
tained the two tables of the law, and therefore represents 
legal administration. The law and the gospel were coming 
into power. ^'^And there followed lightnings, and voices, 
and thunders, and an earthquake, and great hail,'' a lively 
description of agitation and war. 

"And a great sign was seen in heaven.^^ John here 
goes back to the time of the fallen star of Anarchy, who 
is contemporary with the Dragon. He makes an implied 
change in his figure to that of the com.et, whose tail drew 
the third part of the stars of heaven and cast them to 
the earth, or from an ecclesiastical to a political dominion. 
The seven heads and ten horns of the Dragon typify the 
form of the Messianic Antichrist power. The Church is 
described under the figure of "a woman arrayed with the 

39 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

8un/^ or invested with gospel authority; ^^and the moon 
under her feet/' the legal dominion subject to the gospel. 
The woman is in travail, to signify the painfully earnest 
efforts of the Church to produce a Messianic institution. 
The Dragon stands ready to destroy the child as soon as 
it is born. Antichrist ready to destroy the Messianic in- 
stitution as soon as it shall be organized^ But the pur- 
pose of the Church was accomplished, ^'and she was de- 
livered of a son, a man child, who is to rule all the na- 
tions with a rod of iron,^' a Messianic government, strong 
and corrective. The man child symbolizes a fully devel- 
oped institution, empowered with strong Messianic author- 
ity. ^^And the child was caught up unto God and unto 
His throne:'^ the Church attained the highest Messianic 
conception. ^'^And the woman fled into the wilderness,' ' the 
people of that Messianic body retiring to a place more 
congenial to their safety as the center of their operations. 

^^And there was war in heaven.^^ Michael and th^ 
Dragon, the leading representatives of the two opposing 
spiritual powers, engage in a conflict; and the Dragon in- 
vades the heavenly dominion and strives to compel the 
recognition of the Church. The Dragon is rejected and 
cast out of the heavenly dominion, and cast down to the 
earth, or consigned by the Church to a purely political 
sphere. 

That will be a great victory to the Church. ^^Now is 
come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our 
God, and the authority of His Christ. . . . Woe for 
the earth and for the sea,^^ the political and the non- 
political world; ^^because the devil is gone down unto you, 
having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short 
time.'' The false Messiah will foresee the end of his own 
dominion in that victory of the Church. The Dragon then 

30 



THE EEVELATIOX OF JOHN 

"persecuted the woman who brought forth the man. And 
there was given to the woman two wings of a great eagle, 
that she might fly into the wilderness^'" of America as her 
place of refuge. "x4nd the earth helped the woman/' the 
government giving aid to the Churchy while the Dragon 
continued to make war with her seed^ keeping up his per- 
secutions against the people of God. '^And he stood upon 
the sand of the sea/^ or sustained a border-line relation 
with the political world. 

"And I saw a beast coming up out of the sea/' a non- 
political ecclesiast, as the Antichrist Messiah of the sixth 
trumpet. He had "ten horns and seven heads^ and on 
his horns ten diadems/' the horns having the diadems, in- 
stead of the heads, as under the Dragon. "And the dragon 
gave him his power and his throne and great authority,'^ 
the Beast succeeding him in the same Antichrist dominion. 
"And I saw one of his heads as tho it had been smitten 
to death :" Antichrist will suffer an apparent defeat. "And 
his death-stroke was healed," his misfortune was overcome. 
"And there was given him authority to continue forty 
and two months/' or to the end of the 1,260-day period, 
which from this point would include the sixth and seventh 
trumpets, and coincide with the closing era of the power 
of Anarchy. 

His authority is universal, extending "over every tribe 
and people and tongue and nation; and all that dwell on 
the earth/' or under the political powers, "shall worship 
him, whose name hath not been written from the founda- 
tion of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that 
hath been slain." The false Messiah does not enter into 
the original plan of God's government. "If any man is 
for captivity, into captivity he goeth: if any man shall 
kill with the sword, with the sword must he be killed." 

31 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

This is Christ's Messianic declaration against captivity and 
war; and the knowledge of these things is the secret of 
the faith and patience of the saints. 

^^And I saw another beast coming np out of the earth/' 
a political Antichrist institution preparing to set up Mes- 
sianic claims. ^^He had two horns like a lamb/' typifying 
a form of government without any executive ability. 
^^And he spake as a dragon /' in his sentiments resembling 
the Dragon Messiah. "And he exerciseth all the authority 
of the first beast in his sight/' or within his dominion, 
and during the era of his administration. He is an ally 
of the first Beast; for "he maketh the earth/' the political 
powers, "to worship the first beast whose death stroke was 
healed." 

That Antichrist will be a great deceiver ; and notwith- 
standing his pretended emulation of the true evangelical 
institution, he will manifest a murderous purpose. The 
image of the Beast is his oracle, and is made to speak thru 
his pretended miracles, "and cause that as many as should 
not worship the image of the beast should be killed." He 
will also set up a system of monopoly based upon the rec- 
ognition of the false Messiah, by receiving his mark, or 
the number of the Beast. His number is six hundred 
threescore and six in the text, or six hundred and sixteen 
in the margin; one dating from the beginning of Anti- 
christ Anarchy, and the other dating from its rise in 
power. 

And I saw, and behold the Lamb standing on the 
Mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty and four 
thousand, having His name, and the name of the Father, 
written on their foreheads." Here is the true Messianic 
institution, in contrast with the spurious Antichrist insti- 
tution of the false Prophet. The presence of the throne 
and four living creatures and elders shows that the Lamb 

32 



THE EEVELATION OP JOHN" 

and His company are the true evangelical succession of 
the evangelistic institution of the sealing period. 

The location is on Mount Zion, the recognized Mes- 
sianic center of the Jews. ^^They have been purchased out 
of the earth/' or redeemed from political and Antichrist 
corruptions, ^^They are virgins/' in the sense of being 
pure from Antichrist pollutions. ^^These are they that fol- 
low the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were pur- 
chased from among men, to be the firstfruits unto God 
and unto the Lamb/' in the gathering in of the Jews. 

Three angels fly in mid-heaven, tlie sphere of the 
Church. They are missionary messengers, each with a dis- 
tinct message. The first proclaimed eternal good tidings 
^^unto them that dwell on the earth, and unto every na- 
tion and tribe and tongue and people," and the hour of 
God's judgment. The second angel followed, and an- 
nounced the fall of Babylon. The third angel followed 
them and denounced the worship of the Beast and his 
mark. A voice proclaimed, ^^Blessed are the dead that 
die in the Lord." 

^'^One like unto the Son of man came on a white cloud/' 
typical of a heavenly and spiritual character, ^^having on 
his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.'^ 
The croAvn being the emblem of regal authoritj^, shows 
him to be God's Messianic leader. ^^And another angel 
came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him 
that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle and reap : 
for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest 
of the earth is ripe." The second angel is a Messi- 
anic Jewish statesman- who sees the necessity of gath- 
ering God's harvest into his garner, which is his recog- 
nized institution. ^^And another angel came out from the 
temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle," 
a Messianic Christian statesman of executive ability; ^^and 
3 33 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

another angel from the altar, he that hath power over fire/' 
a practical reformer; "and he called with a great voice to 
him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Send forth thy 
sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the 
earth; for her grapes are fully ripe/^ This angel is also 
a Messianic statesman of executive ability. This vintage 
of the earth was cast into the great winepress of the wrath 
of God; and the winepress was trodden without the city, 
or outside of the dominion of Antichrist. The blood that 
came out of the winepress unto the bits of the horses^ 
bridles, as far as a thousand and six hundred furlongs, 
symbolizes the terrible and widespread carnage of that 
winepress period. 

The era of the seven last plagues belongs to the wine- 
press period of the seventh trumpet. "And I saw as it 
were a glassy sea, mingled with fire.^^ The base upon 
which the victorious people of God were standing shows 
them to be a non-political class of people; but it was a 
sea of glass, symbolizing solidity ; while the mingling of fire 
among the glass is to be interpreted in a radical reforma- 
tion. They came off victorious from the Beast, and from 
his image, and from the number of his name. "They 
sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song 
of the Lamb,^^ and are related to the company that stood 
upon Mount Zion, having the harps of God. The reign 
of the Messiah appears prospectively from this point. ^^AU 
the nations shall come and worship before Thee.^^ "And 
the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven 
was opened.^^ The great victory of the Church opened 
the way for gospel work and for the Christian enforce- 
ment of law. 

The seven angels that had the seven last plagues came 
out from the temple, to denote that those plagues were 
to be executed thru gospel administration. Their glori- 

34 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHN 

ous array, pure and bright, and with golden girdles about 
their breasts, indicates their sterling character. Their 
number being seven, denotes the full co-operation of the 
gospel powers. The presenting of the seven bowls by one 
of the four living creatures signifies that one of the four 
great continents will take the lead in that era of the seven 
last plagues. 

The first three plagues symbolize the social effects of 
the political, social, and ecclesiastical corruptions of that 
time. The first bowl was poured upon the earth, the po- 
litical dominion, and revealed the corruption of an Anti- 
christ international system. The second bowl was poured 
upon the sea, the non-political world, ^^and it became as 
the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died, the 
things that were in the sea,^^ meaning the decadence of 
all non-political organizations. The third bowl was poured 
upon the rivers and fountains of waters, the institutions 
and societies connected with them; and they became blood. 
The commendation of the angel of the waters, ^^Blood hast 
Thou given them to drink; for they are worthy ,^^ implies 
that the classes here intended will merit and receive a 
bloody end.. The altar also sanctioned the commendation. 
It w^ill be favorable to the reformation. 

The four succeeding plagues describe the aggressive 
measures of the Church. "And the fourth angel poured 
out his bowl upon the sun,^^ the dominion of the gospel, 
"and it was given unto it to scorch men with fire,^^ mean- 
ing the scathing denunciations of the Church against 
wickedness. "And the fifth poured out his bowl upon the 
throne of the beast,^^ the seat of the false Messiah; "and 
his kingdom was darkened,^^ thru the exposure of its wick- 
edness. "And the sixth poured out his bowl upon the 
great river, the Euphrates; and the water thereof was 
dried up, that the way might be made ready for the kings 

35 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

that come from the sun rising/^ The Euphrates was the 
seat of Babylon, and Babylon is the type of the anarch- 
istic Antichrist power that shall rise at the beginning of 
the fifth trumpet. The drying up of the Euphrates would 
typify their diminishing in numbers and influence. Anti- 
christs seat will be in the West; and the kings of the East 
appear to mean the Antichrist powers of the far East, that 
shall flourish during the Millennial era. 

"And I saw out of the mouth of the dragon, and out 
of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the 
false prophet, three unclean spirits as it were frogs.^^ The 
three unclean spirits typify the three systems of Anti- 
christ. They are the deviPs trinity, "spirits of demons, 
working signs; that go forth unto the kings of the whole 
world, to gather them together unto the war of the great 
day of God, the Almighty.^^ That Antichrist assembly 
will be a great international convention, which will be 
held for the purpose of opening hostilities against the 
Church, after the uncomfortable era of the first six plagues. 
"Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, 
and keepeth his garments . . .^' An unexpected visi- 
tation will fall upon the powers of wickedness, such as 
shall put them to shame, and all who shall appear to give 
them countenance. The prophetic name of the location, 
Har-Magedon, signifies victory for the right, in reference 
to the great victory of Israel in that place. 

"And the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the 
air,'^ the region of light, suggesting a general exposure of 
wickedness. "And there were lightnings, and voices, and 
thunders; and there was a great earthquake, such as was 
not since there were men upon the earth, so great an 
earthquake, so mighty.^^ John describes a circumstance 
that will occur in an era that will be noted for great 
social upheavals; but that one will surpass them all. 

36 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHN 

"And the great city was divided into three parts, and 
the cities of the nations fell/^ The great city is Rome, 
here typifying the united powers of Antichrist. The three 
great Antichrist powers will take different issues. Then 
the national institutions, not daring to take sides under 
such circumstances, will fall away from the x\ntichrist con- 
federation. "And Babylon the great,^' the latest and most 
important of the Antichrist powers, "was remembered in 
the sight of God to give unto her the cup of the wine of 
the fierceness of His wrath. And every island fled away, 
and the mountains were not found.^^ The non-political 
powers that were there represented, and the strong and 
stable powers that came to give Antichrist their aid, also 
left the convention, "xlnd great hail about the weight of 
a talent cometh down upon men;^^ a figurative description 
of a cannonade. The great Antichrist convention will be 
broken up. 

"And there came one of the seven angels that had the 
seven bowls [the prophetic way of stating that the events 
to be introduced belong to the period of the seven plagues], 
saying, Come hither, I will show thee the judgment of 
the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters.'' He is 
about to explain the visitation that shall fall upon the 
great power of Anarchy. John's enigma of the lewd 
woman and scarlet-colored beast shows the relation of the 
two allied Antichrist powers, called the Beast and the false 
Prophet, after the prophetic names of their two Antichrist 
kings. The woman was drunken, filled to satiety, "with 
the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the mar- 
tyrs of Jesus.'^ 

"The beast was and is not, and is about to come up 
out of the abyss.'' The Beast of the sixth trumpet rose 
out of the sea, and was a non-political potentate. But 
the sixth trumpet is a lengthy period, lasting three hun- 

37 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

dred and sixty years. At the beginning of the seventh 
trumpet, the time to which John's enigma applies, that 
false Messiah will have been dead at least three hundred 
years. In that sense, he was and is not, his Messianic era 
also having expired. But he is about to be impersonated 
by an Anarchist, who will be put forward as the Messi- 
anic leader of the institution he represented, and which 
will then be embodied in the ten Horns who will receive 
authority as kings with the Beast for one hour. He will 
therefore be a rival of the false Prophet, who will at that 
time claim the Messianic throne. This will cause a rup- 
ture between the two allied Antichrist powers; and the 
ten Horns and the Beast, or old Antichrist power and their 
king, "shall hate the harlot, and shall make her desolate 
and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and shall burn her 
utterly with fire,'' or labor to accomplish her destruction. 

"After these things I saw another angel coming down 
out of heaven having great authority." Each heavenly 
messenger introduced represents the Church, which at that 
time will have attained Messianic proportions. "And he 
cried with a loud voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon 
the great . . . And I heard another voice from heaven, 
saying, Come forth, my people, out of her, . . ." Those 
two messages represent two features of evangelistic effort, 
that of warning the people of God of the approaching fall 
of Anarchy, and of calling them out from under its do- 
minion. The prophet then turns to describe the sudden 
downfall of Babylon, which was accomplished in one hour ; 
and that hour is to be interpreted in the hour of the 
Beast, or carrying out of a conspiracy to destroy the false 
Prophet and his allies. 

That full and final destruction of the leading Anti- 
christ power will be followed by a great hallelujah in the 
Church, "as the voice of a great multitude, and as the 

38 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHK 

voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunder, 
saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God, the Almighty, 
reigneth/' Then will follow the marriage of the Lamb, 
typifying the union of the Christian and Jewish institu- 
tions of the Church. 

'^'^And I saw the heaven opened/^ At the beginning 
of the vision a door was opened in heaven, to reveal the 
possibilities of a heavenly dominion. After that only the 
temple was opened, to signify the opening up of gospel 
work, to prepare the world for the kingdom of heaven. 
But the heaven opened means that the possibilities of a 
heavenly dominion are about to be accomplished. A glo- 
rious personage appears, seated upon a white horse; and 
He resembles the one of the Apostolic era of the JBrst seal. 
The titles that are ascribed to Him indicate His Messi- 
anic character, and also the Messianic characteristics of 
the institution of which He is the head. ^^Upon His head 
are many diadems,^^ to signify the concentration of Mes- 
sianic authority. ^'^And He hath a name written which 
no one k^noweth but He Himself.^' His Messianic charac- 
ter has not yet been fully revealed. ^^He is arrayed in a 
garment sprinkled with blood,^' of the great winepress 
He has been treading. That is His military apparel ; and 
^^out of His mouth proceedeth a sharp sword,^^ the Word 
of God, the sword of the Spirit, ^^that with it He should 
smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of 
iron.^^ He is to be identified with the man child who was 
caught up unto God and His throne; and which was a 
Messianic conception that the Church will be preparing 
to carry out. He is to rule as King of kings, and Lord 
OF LORDS, or as a fully-empowered Messiah. 

^^An angel standing in the sun,^^ the sphere of the gos- 
pel, invites all the birds that fly in mid-heaven, all the re- 
ligious world, saying, ^^Come and be gathered together [in 

39 



THE mSTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

an international convention] unto the great supper of God : 
that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of cap- 
tains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses 
and of them that sit thereon, and the flesh of all men, 
both free and bond, and small and great/^ There will 
be an Antichrist literary rejuvenation of all the works of 
the age. That will be a practical movement on the part 
of the three unclean spirits, or triple Antichrist economy, 
who will take that course to gain the powers of the world, 
and mass their forces to oppose the authority of Christ. 

^^And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and 
their armies, gathered together to make war against Him 
that sat upon the horse, and against His army:^^ the 
powers of Antichrist and Anarchy uniting to resist Messi- 
anic Christian administration. This is the great battle 
of God, the Almighty, for w^hich the two great powers of 
Christ and Antichrist will be massed. ^"^And the beast 
was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought 
the signs in his sight, wherewith he deceived them that 
had received the mark of the beast, and them that wor- 
shiped his image; they twain were cast alive into the lake 
of fire that burneth with brimstone: and the rest were 
killed with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, even 
the sword which came forth out of His mouth.^^ After 
the execution of the two Antichrist leaders, their cause 
will be put down thru aggressive gospel measures. ^^And 
all the birds were filled with their flesh.^^ The adherents 
of Antichrist will feast upon the works of their dead cause. 

Then the Dragon was bound, the one remaining Anti- 
christ power, and sentenced to a thousand years' impris- 
onment in the abyss, or dominion of Anarchy to which 
he belonged. There were thrones and judgment for such 
as before had lost their heads for their principles; ^^and 
they lived, and reigned with Christ a thousand years. The 

40 



THE EEVELATION OF JOHN 

rest of the dead/^ the dead cause of Antichrist, ^^lived not 
until the thousand years were finished/^ Then Satan is 
loosed again, and deceives the nations as before. He 
raises a great army to surround the beloved city, ancient 
Jerusalem; and his army is destroyed in a storm of fire. 
The devil is then cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, 
where the Beast and false Prophet are^ the dominion of 
Anarchy and destruction. 

A general judgment then takes place, in which all the 
systems and works of the past Messianic eras are brought 
up and examined. The decision of the Church will be 
final; and that judgment work will prepare the way for 
the last and most important era of the kingdom of heaven. 
That will be the Sabbatic era of the world, the typical 
New Creation. Old things will be done away, and all 
things will be made anew. "The sea is no more.^^ The 
non-political, or rather the non-theocratic world, will cease 
to exist. 

The New Jerusalem is made ready as a bride adorned 
for her husband; for the two bodies of the Church are to 
be united, the Jews of the East with the united Chris- 
tian and Jewish institution of the West. "And there came 
one of the seven angels who were laden with the seven 
plagues, saying. Come hither, and I will show thee the 
bride, the wife of the Lamb.^^ This prophetic date of the 
seven plagues is the time of the first union of the Chris- 
tians and Jews of the West, the Jews of the East then 
remaining as a separate body. This explanation is in- 
tended to show that the union is to be formed of those two 
institutions. 

That era of the world will be the last; and the end 
of the age will be comparatively near; therefore Jesus 
says, "Behold, I come quickly ;^^ and the Church responds, 
^^Even so; come quickly. Lord Jesus.^^ 

41 



CHAPTER IV 

Tabulated Outline of the Kings 
of Israel and Judah 

The various features of Jewish history are woven into 
prophecy to describe the circumstances of the Church in 
a future era of the world to which the general outline of 
Jewish history bears some analogy. The time referred to 
is the coming 1^260-day period^ and especially what is 
included in the first four trumpets. The forty-year period 
of Saul's reign was succeeded by the eighty-year period 
of the reigns of David and Solomon, and have their anti- 
types in the first and second trumpets. The period of 
Jeroboam's defection, from the beginning of the divided 
kingdom until the carrying away of Israel and Judah, 
was three hundred and ninety years, and has its antitype 
in the third trumpet. Ezekiel mentions a forty-year pe- 
riod which is to succeed the latter, and it will be fulfilled 
in the fourth trumpet. 

A study of the table of the kings of Israel and Judah 
will help to understand the Bible method of computing 
dates, and also the computation of some of the periods and 
sub-periods that appear in the prophetic outline of this 
work. The approximate number of years of the reign of 

42 



THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH 

each king is given; but no account is taken of fractions 
of years, save in a few instances of transient reign, or 
when the king was dethroned, or died within the year. 
The period of each king is given from the year in which 
he began to reign to the year in which he ended his reign ; 
but there is sometimes an apparently slight difference be- 
tween the time at which a king's reign expires and the 
time when his successor is said to begin, which, taken into 
the account, would make the date a year earlier or later, as 
the case may be. In some instances there is a joint reg- 
nancy, the father and son ruling in partnership. Bible 
dates are not given B. C. or A, D., as we do. A table 
of the kings of Israel and Judah made out in Bible lan- 
guage is as follows: 

Saul, the first king of Israel, reigned 40 years. 

David succeeded Saul and reigned 40 years. 

Solomon succeeded David and reigned 40 years. 

(The kingdom was then divided between Ee- 

hoboam and Jeroboam.) 

Eehoboam reigned over Judah 17 years. 

Jeroboam reigned over Israel 22 years. 

Abijam reigned over Judah 

from the 18th year of Jeroboam 3 years. 

Asa reigned over Judah 

from the 20th year of Jeroboam 41 years. 

Nadab began to reign over Israel 

in the second year of Asa 2 years. 

Baasha began to reign over Israel 

in the third year of Asa 24 years. 

Elah began to reign over Israel 

in the 26th year of Asa 2 years. 

Zimri reigned over Israel 

in the 27th year of Asa 7 days. 

Omri began to reign over Israel 

in the 31st year of Asa 12 years. 

43 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

Ahab began to reign over Israel 

in the 38th year of Asa 22 years. 

Jehoshaphat succeeded Asa 

and reigned over Judah 25 years. 

Ahaziah, son of Ahab, began to reign over Is- 
rael in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat 2 years. 

Jehoram began to reign over Israel 

in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat 12 years. 

Joram, son of Jehoshaphat, began to reign 

over Judah in the fifth year of Joram, son 

of Ahab 8 years. 

Ahaziah reigned over Judah 

in the 12th year of Jotham, son of Ahab. . 1 year. 
Athaliah began to reign over Israel 

in the first year of Jehu 6 years. 

Jehu succeeded Jehoram over Israel 22 years. 

Joash reigned over Judah 

from the seventh year of Jehu 40 years. 

Jehoahaz began to reign over Israel 

in the 23d year of Joash 17 years. 

Jehoash began to reign of Israel 

in the 37th year of Joash, king of Judah. 16 years. 
Amaziah began to reign over Judah 

in the second year of Joash, king of Israel. 29 3^ears. 
Jeroboam (II) began to reign over Israel 

in the 15th year of Amaziah 41 years. 

TJzziah (Azariah) began to reign over Judah 

in the 27th year of Jeroboam 52 years. 

Zechariah reigned over Israel 

in the 38th year of Uzziah 6 months. 

Shallum reigned over Israel 

in the 39th year of Uzziah 1 month. 

Menahem began to reign over Israel 

in the 39th year of Uzziah 10 years. 

Pekahiah began to reign over Israel 

in the 50th year of Uzziah 2 years. 

Pekah began to reign over Israel 

in the 52d year of Uzziah 20 years. 

Jotham began to reign over Judah 

in the second year of Pekah 16 years. 

44 



THE KINGS OP ISRAEL AND JUDAH 

Ahaz began to reign over Judah 

in the 17th year of Pekah 16 years. 

Hoshea began to reign over Israel in the 20th 

year of Jotham and 12th year of Ahaz. . . 9 years. 
(Samaria was taken by Shalmanezer in the 

ninth year of Hoshea.) 
Hezekiah began to reign over Judah 

in the third year of Hoshea 29 years. 

Manasseh succeeded Hezekiah 

and reigned over Judah 55 years 

Amon succeeded Manasseh 

and reigned over Judah 2 years. 

Josiah succeeded Amon 

and reigned over Judah 31 years. 

Jehoahaz succeeded Josiah 

and reigned over Judah 3 months. 

Jehoakim took the kingdom after Jehoahaz 

and reigned over Judah 11 years. 

Jehoiachin (Coniah or Jechoniah) succeeded 

Jehoiakim over Judah.... 3 months and 10 days. 
Zedekiah took the kingdom after Jehoachin 

and reigned over Judah 11 years. 

(Jerusalem was taken by Nebuchadnezzar in the eleventh 

year of Zedekiah.) 

Eemarks. 

Joram^ son of Jehoshaphat, began to reign in the fifth 
year of Joram (or Jehoram), son of Ahab. That was one 
or two years before his father^s term of reign expired. 

Uzziah (also called Azariah), who succeeded Amaziah^ 
began to reign in the 27th year of the reign of Jeroboam 
second. Here is a mystery. Amaziah lived fifteen years 
after the death of Joash, king of Israel. But the 27th 
year of Jeroboam's reign from the 15th year of Amaziah 
would leave an interval of twelve years from the close 
of Amaziah's reign to the beginning of UzziaVs. Since 
the father of Jeroboam did a great deal of warring against 

45 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PROPHECY 

Syria, it is quite probable that Jeroboam reigned in con- 
sort with his father during those twelve years. 

In 2 Kings the time of Jeroboam^s reign is said to be 
41 years, and 40 in Chronicles, a fraction of a year being 
included in one and not in the other, the fractions being 
either omitted or reckoned as whole years. This peculiar 
way of taking in or leaving off the fractions makes an ap- 
parent discrepancy of one or two years sometimes to appear 
in the table. After Jeroboam^s reign there was an inter- 
regnum of about 22 years. Then Zechariah, his son, 
reigned six months, and was slain by Shallum, who took 
the throne the following year, but reigned only one month, 
and was slain by Menahem, who took the throne. 

Hoshea, the son of Elah, made a conspiracy against Pe- 
kah, the son of Eemaliah, in the twentieth year of Jotham. 
But Jotham reigned only sixteen years, and the twentieth 
year of Jotham would be the fourth year of Ahaz, who prob- 
ably reigned for a while as viceroy. Hoshea's reign is said 
to date from the twelfth year of Ahaz. Samaria was taken 
in the ninth year of Hoshea ; and that ended the kingdom 
of Israel. Jerusalem was taken in the eleventh year of 
Zedekiah's reign; and that ended the kingdom of Judah 
until its restoration under Cyrus. The Babylonish cap- 
tivity extended from the fourth year of Jehoiakin to the 
edict of Cyrus, B. C. 606-536. It was 21 years from the 
beginning of the captivity to the siege of Jerusalem, and 
49 years from the siege to the edict of Cyrus, in all seventy 
years. 

The dates at which the successive kings of Israel and 
Judah began to reign, as nearly as can be ascertained, are 
given in the table below. The dates in parentheses show 
when the king began to reign as viceroy, or in partnership 
with his father, or was preceded by a viceroy. Before the 

46 



THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH 



kingdom was divided Saul was crowned B. C. 1095, David 
B. C. 1055, and Solomon B. C. 1015. 



Date of Reign. 

Kings of Judah. B 0. 

Eehoboam 975 

Abijam 957 

Asa 955 

Jehoshaphat (914).... 912 

Joram (898) 889 

Ahaziah 884 

Athaliah 883 

Joash 876 

Amaziah 837 

Uzziah 80G 

Jotham (775) 752 

Ahaz 737 

Hezekiah 721 

Manasseh 696 

Amon 642 

Josiah 641 

Jehoahaz 610 

Jehoiakim 610 

fJehoiachin 599 

Zedekiah 598 

Jerusalem was taken. . 587 



t Remark: The eight years of 
Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24: 12) included 
the time of his suspension while 
Zedekiah reigned. 



Date of Reign 

Kings of Israel. B. C. 

Jeroboam 975 

Nadab 953 

Baasha 952 

Elah 928 

Zimri 927 

Omri^ after four years^ 

war 924 

Ahab (917) 912 

Ahaziah (899) 897 

Jehoram 896 

Jehu 883 

Jehoahaz 853 

Jehoash (839) 836 

Jeroboam II (833)... 822 
Zechariah, after an in- 
terregnum of about 

twelve years 768 

Shallum 767 

Menahen 767 

Pekahiah 756 

Pekah 754 

Hoshea, after about 8 

years' anarchy 724 

Samaria was taken... 715 



47 



CHAPTEE V 

The Prophetic Books 
Outlined and Paraphrased 

Isaiah 

IsAiAH^s prophecy covers a period of several centuries. 
On the whole it can be seen to progress toward the kingdom 
of heaven ; and thru the distant future the prophet catches 
glimpses of the Sabbatic era, the last and most glorious 
era of the world. The fragments of history that are occa- 
sionally interwoven in his prophecy have a prophetic mean- 
ing. 

The first six chapters give a general view of the circum- 
stances ]ust preceding the coming reign of Antichrist. 
Hence the ^prophetic viewpoint is the closing part of the 
fifth seal; and the defections there described answer to 
those that existed in Israel previous to their invasion by 
foreign powers. The circumstances of the Jews under 
those foreign powers will also have their antitype in the 
future circumstances of the Church during the Antichrist 
era of the seven trumpets. 

The opening chapter describes the corruption of the 
Church at the close of the fifth seal. Chapter 2 : 1-4 de- 
scribes a better time prospectively in ^^the latter days.^' 
The rest of the chapter and to the end of chapter 3 de- 
scribes the corrupt state of society in general. Chapter 4 

48 



THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

is prophetic of severe corrective visitations. "In that day 
the branch of Jehovah will be beautiful and glorious/^ 
The word sprout more clearly expresses the meaning; not 
the limb of a tree, but a new tree upon the old stock ; mean- 
ing a new era of the Church upon its original foundation. 

Chapter 5. The description of IsraeFs security and 
prosperity in Canaan under the figure of a fruitful vine, 
typifies the present flourishing home of the Church in 
America. The prophet here describes the corruptions that 
shall exist under the leading government of Christendom. 
It was planted of the choicest vine; but it brought forth 
wild grapes, the fruit of wicked people. "He will take 
away the hedge thereof/^ or deprive the nation of their 
security. "I will also command the clouds that they rain 
no rain upon it/^ or deprive it of heavenly blessings. In 
the catalog of woes drunkenness is mentioned twice 
(5: 11, .22) as the leading cause of the evils of that time. 
"He will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and 
will hiss to them to the end of the earth : and, behold, they 
will come with speed swifthV^ the power of Antichrist at 
the roll-call of heaven, to set up the abomination of deso- 
lation. 

The vision of chapter 6 illustrates the Messianic con- 
ceptions of Jews and Protestants in the era of chapter 5. 
The one seated upon the throne is the Messiah; but He is 
"high and lifted up^^ above the temple. Only His train, 
the skirts of His robe, filled the temple, to denote that the 
Jew^s Messianic ideal is too low. The two seraphim typify 
the two hemispheres, the eastern and the western conti- 
nents; and the song they chant is to be interpreted in the 
full evangelization of the world. It is the highest ideal of 
Protestantism. The seraphim being above the one seated 
upon the throne denotes that universal evangelism is above 
their Messianic conceptions. 
4 49 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

The prophef s "woe is me ; for I am undone ; for I am a 
man of unclean lips ; and I dwell in the midst of a people 
of unclean lips/^ signifies that there will be a felt necessity 
for practical holiness. One of the seraphim flew with a 
live coal "taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he 
touched my mouth with it, and said, Lo, this hath touched 
thy lips ; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin ex- 
piated/^ A reformation will begin in the class who shall 
realize its need. "And I heard the voice of the Lord, say- 
ing, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I 
said. Here am I; send me/' A godly class of people, in 
whom the good work shall begin, will labor to bring about 
a thoro and practical reformation. The Church in general 
will fail to apprehend it; yet it will continue "until cities 
be waste without inhabitant, and houses without man, and 
the land become utterly waste,'^ in the desolations of the 
sixth seal. "And if there be yet a tenth in it, it shall re- 
turn and again be eaten up'^ (or burnt), in the later deso- 
lations of the first trumpet. "As a terebinth or an oak 
whose stock remaineth when they are felled; so the holy 
seed is the stock thereof.'^ This figure is intended to show 
that the holy people above described will be preserved, even 
when the existing institution of the Church shall be pros- 
trated by the power of Antichrist. 

Chapter 7. The confederation of Ephraim and Syria 
prefigures the going over to Antichrist of a class of people 
who are nominally Christian, when Antichrist shall set up 
his reign. But his purpose to fully overthrow the Church 
will not be accomplished. Ahaz is offered a sign of the 
breaking of the enemies' power within sixty- five years ; and 
the Lord Himself shall give a sign in the Immanuel that 
shall be born of the virgin. This prophecy clearly applies 
to Christ, and is so regarded by the Apostle Matthew. Now 
what was that sign to Ahaz ? It was not fulfilled for sixty- 

50 



THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

five years several times told. The sign was to precede the 
circumstance ; and has been given in the Christ incarnate ; 
and the circumstance was also fulfilled in the deliverance 
from Antichrist's past reign. But the prophecy has a yet 
future application, and its final fulfillment belongs to the 
coming 1,260-day period. There will be sixty-five years 
of tribulation and peril at the beginning of the sixth seal, 
followed by the prosperous sealing period; and the Child 
of the Virgin is an institution that will rise in that era; 
and it will be the evangelical offspring of Protestantism. 

^^Before the child shall know to refuse the evil and 
choose the good/^ before the new body shall have passed its 
youth, *^'the land whose two kings thou abhorrest shall be 
forsaken/^ in the desolation of the third trumpet, when two 
Antichrist kings shall dominate in America. ^^Jehovah 
shall bring upon thee . . . days that have not been 
from the day that Ephraim departed from Judah, even the 
king of Assyria.^^ The great falling away of the sixth seal 
will be followed later by another apostasy, under a second 
form of Antichrist. 

^^And it shall come to pass in that day that Jehovah 
shall hiss for the fly that is in the uttermost part of the 
rivers of Egypt,^' the old form of Antichrist, ^'^and for the 
bee that is in the land of Assyria,^^ the later form of Anti- 
christ. Society will be menaced by those two Antichrist 
powers. ^^In that day shall the Lord shave with a razor 
that is hired . . . the parts beyond the Eiver,^^ mean- 
ing the ISTile, which typifies the old Antichrist institu- 
tion ; "with the king of Assyria,^^ the later Antichrist. The 
meaning appears to be that the old power of Antichrist will 
be completely shorn by the second Antichrist power. 
Verses 21-25, Gospel work will continue on a small scale; 
but with good results. 

Chapter 8. "Mahar-shalal-hash-baz,'' meaning the 

51 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

spoil speedeth, the prey hasteth, is suggestive of the rapid 
progress of the second form of Antichrist. ^^Before the 
child shall know to cry, My father, and my mother/^ before 
a newly-formed body shall pass its infancy, "the riches of 
Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be carried away 
before the king of Assyria.'^ The later Antichrist will 
make a great inroad upon religious institutions. 

"This people refuse the waters of Shiloh, and rejoice 
in Eezin and Eemaliah's son/^ The people of the Church 
take pleasure in characters tending toward Antichrist, 
which shows that persons of that class will at that time pre- 
dominate in the Church. As a consequence, the later form 
of Antichrist will carry away a large proportion of the 
Church. It will be widespread, filling the "land of Im- 
manuel,^^ or wholly invading the Church. 

Chapter 9. "The people that walked in darkness have 
seen a great light. . . . Thou has multiplied the na- 
tion, thou hast increased their joy. . . . For the yoke 
of his burden, and the staff of his shoulder, the rod of 
his oppressor. Thou hast broken as in the day of Midian. 
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given.^^ The 
prophet is here speaking of a great change for the better, 
and of the beginning of a new institution. "And the gov- 
ernment shall be upon His shoulder.^^ It will be a Mes- 
sianic institution. "And His name shall be called Wonder- 
ful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of 
Peace.^^ It is not the Immanuel institution of the sealing 
period, but one of a later time. The prophetic name of 
the first institution is Immanuel, God with us ; and it will 
come out of a spiritual reformation; but the second is God 
ruling us, and will aim to reform society in general. Its 
prophetic titles are suggestive of the Messianic conceptions 
of the Church. 

Chapter 9 : 8-10 : 34 describes the lamentable state of the 

52 



THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

-Jews during the third and fourth trumpets. Verse 20, "A 
remnant shall return^^ from the corruptions of those times. 
Verse 25, ^^A very little while/^ after that reformation, ^^the 
indignation shall be accomplished, and mine anger in their 
(enemies') destruction.^^ 11:1, "And there shall come 
forth a shoot out of the stock of Jesse ; and a branch out of 
his roots shall bear fruit.'^ Two reformed branches shall 
come out of that reformation. The root suggests the more 
radical branch, and seems to be given the preference in 
verse 10. 

Chapter 11 : 11. "And it shall come to pass in that day 
that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to 
recover the remnant of His people.^^ The prophetic view- 
point here is the close of that second period of apostasy, 
which makes it appear that previous to that time the Jews 
will have been gathered from their dispersion, and again 
scattered. Two homes are to be assigned to them, one in the 
West and the other in the East (v. 14). "The shoulder of 
the Philistines on the West'^ is the northern shoulder of 
South America, Philistia being the poetic name for Pales- 
tine, which is the prophetic type of Protestantism at large. 
"TJie river of Egypt shall be smitten into seven streams,^^ 
the old power of Antichrist divided into seven branches; 
and that circumstance will be favorable to the Jews. 

Chapters 13 and 14 are a discourse upon the third form 
of Antichrist, whose era of power will be in the fifth and 
sixth trumpets. The prophetic date of 14 : 28, the year that 
King Ahaz died, is connected with the breaking of the 
power that smote Philistia, meaning the overthrow of the 
old power of Antichrist in the second trumpet. "For out 
of the serpent's root shall come forth an adder, and his 
fruit shall be a fiery, flying serpent/' meaning the tw*o later 
forms of Antichrist that should rise after the old power. 
"Howl, gate; cry, city; thou art melted away, Phi- 

53 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

listia, all of thee/^ apparently referring to the decline of 
Protestantism. "Jehovah hath founded Zion," God's rec- 
ognized institution after Protestantism; "and in her shall 
the afflicted of His people take refuge/' The three years 
mentioned in 15:5 and 16:14 appear to date from the 
sixth trumpet, when "the nations shall rush like the rush- 
ing of many waters" (17:12). 

Chapter 18. America is the "land overshadowing with 
wings.'^ The terrible people here described answer to the 
old power of Antichrist, "whose land the rivers divide/' 
their institution being torn by schisms. It is the period 
mentioned prospectively in 11 : 15. The ambassadors of 
swift messengers will be a timely effort to bring about a 
reconciliation. But an ensign will be lifted up to the in- 
habitants of the world to defeat their purpose; and there 
will be successful resistance. Under the figure of a vine 
that is pruned before the harvest is described the calami- 
ties that shall be prematurely visited upon that Antichrist 
power. Verse 7 hints at a partial reformation. This 
prophecy is an introduction to the oracle that follows in the 
succeeding chapter. 

Chapter 19. "I will stir up the Egyptians against the 
Egyptians; and they shall fight every one against his 
brother . . . neighbor . . . neighbor . 
city . . . kingdom . . . And I will give over the 
Egyptians into the hand of a cruel lord; and a fierce king 
shall rule over them/' the fierce false Messiah of the fourth 
trumpet. Verses 18-22 describe the partial reformation 
which was before hinted, in the "five cities in the land of 
Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to 
Jehovah of hosts." That reformation will sustain only a 
borderline relation with the old Antichrist institution, "a 
pillar at the border thereof to Jehovah." "In that day 
shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the 

54 



THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into As- 
syria; and the Egyptians shall worship with the Assyrians." 
Intercommunion will be established between the two Anti- 
christ powers. "In that day Israel will be the third with 
Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the 
earth.'^ The two Antichrist institutions will give the Jews 
their fraternal recognition. No subsequent mention i« 
made of that reformation, which makes it appear that it 
will be of short duration. 

The prophetic date of 20 : 1 appears to belong to the 
era of the Wormwood Star, when the second form of Anti- 
christ shall rise. The three j^ears of the carrying away of 
the Egyptians in disgrace by the Assyrians is to be under- 
stood of the general attitude of the second form of Anti- 
christ toward the old power, during the third, fourth, and 
fifth trumpets. 

The oracles of the 21st, 22d, and 23d chapters apply to 
the era of the third power of Antichrist, in the fifth and 
sixth trumpets. "The wilderness of the sea^^ is a non-polit- 
ical power that has been reduced to anarchy. The whirl- 
winds are violent social disturbances. The "South^' ap- 
pears primarily to mean the land of the Philistines, of 
which Ashdod referred to in the previous chapter was one 
of the principal strongholds. In the prophetic sense, it 
points to South America. There is painful and unendur- 
able solicitude in view of an expected siege, from the 
third power of Antichrist, as the context shows. A watch- 
man is set, and anxiously waits in anticipation of expected 
messengers. After long and patient waiting they come, 
and announce that "Babylon is fallen, is fallen ; and all the 
graven images of her gods are broken unto the ground.^^ 
The late Antichrist power will meet w4th a great defeat. 

"One calleth me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the 
night? Watchman, what of the night ?^^ The Moham- 

55 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

medan power will deride the prospect of the Millennial era. 
^The watchman said, The morning cometh, and also the 
night: if ye will inquire, inquire ye; turn ye, come'^ (come 
again). The Millennial era will come; but a long, dark 
night is yet ahead, even for you; and you will again have 
occasion to inquire. What of the night ? 

Chapter 22. The word valley is a prophetic term 
which is used indefini^"ely for the dominion of any organi- 
zation. In this place it applies to the Jews. The change 
of office from Shebna to Abiathar prefigures a change in 
the Jewish administration in the era to which the prophecy 
applies. 

Chapter 23 describes the fall of a great mercantile 
power, which is to be interpreted in the future fall of 
Protestantism. 

Chapter 24 describes a great tribulation that shall come 
upon the whole world, after the "city of confusion^^ shall 
be broken down, the fall of Protestantism before described. 
"The treacherous dealers have dealt very treacherously,^^ 
not only the Antichrists, but Jews and Protestants as well. 
"Fear and the pit and the snare (of anarchy) are upon 
thee, inhabitant of the earth. . . . And it shall 
come to pass in that day that Jehovah shall punish the host 
of the high ones on higlV^ men in eminent places, "and the 
kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gath- 
ered together (confederated) as prisoners are gathered in 
the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison (held under the 
power of anarchy) ; and after many days they shall be 
visited^^ (with punishment). The above prophecy will be 
fulfilled in the sixth and seventh trumpets, followed by the 
Millennial era; when "Jehovah of hosts shall reign in 
Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients 
gloriously.^^ 

Chapter 25 is a song of thanksgiving for the destruc- 

56 



THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

tion of the city of confusion. Chapter 26 is a song of 
praise, contrasting with the fallen power a strong city 
whose walls and bulwarks is salvation. ^^Jehovah is an 
everlasting rock'^ (rock of ages). Verse 20, ^'Come, my 
people, hide thyself for a little moment,^^ from impending 
danger, ^"^until the indignation be overpast/^ when "Jehovah 
Cometh forth out of His place to punish the inhabitants of 
the earth for their iniquity ; the earth also shall disclose her 
blood, and shall no more cover her slain.^^ The dead will 
not be buried in that era of vengeance. 

Chapter 27. The two leviathans, and the monster that 
is in the sea, are the three powers of Antichrist. The 
two later powers will be punished, and the old power de- 
stroyed. The ^^vineyard of red wine^' is God's military 
economy for the destruction of wickedness, in the san- 
guinary winepress era of divine visitations (Psa. 75:8). 
"I Jehovah do keep it ; I will water it every moment : lest 
any hurt it, I will keep it day and night,^^ as a necessary 
providential measure. Verse 9, The purpose of the Jews' 
afflictions is to take away their sin. Verse 12 implies that 
they will be connected with the old power of Antichrist; 
but that the connection will be broken; and they shall be 
gathered into their own institution. 

Chapter 28 describes the corrupt state of the Jews. They 
"reel with wine and stagger with strong drink.'' Their 
intemperance will be a snare to them, and they will make 
a "covenant with death," and an "agreement with Sheol,'' 
by entering into an alliance with Antichrist, in order to 
save themselves from the overflowing Antichrist scourges. 
But their covenant with death and agreement with Sheol 
shall not stand; and the overflowing scourge will take them 
as often as it passes thm ; and they will be in danger of 
the consummation determined from Jehovah of hosts upon 
■the whole earth. 

67 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

Chapter 29. "Ho, Ariel/' the fireplace of God. The 
Jewish institution is the only one of divine sanction that 
recognizes the use of burnt offerings. The Jews are to 
suffer a siege. Verse 9, '^They are drunken, but not with 
wine; and stagger, but not with strong drink.'' The con- 
text explains it to be in their spirit. The prophetic writ- 
ings are not understood, but are as a sealed book to the 
learned, and can not be read (understandingly) by the un- 
learned. Verse 14, "A marvelous work and a wonder, the 
wisdom of their wise men shall perish." Their rabbinical 
writings from men esteemed as wise will be discarded. 
That will open the way for better things ; and "they that err 
in spirit shall come to understanding, and they that mur- 
mur shall receive instruction." Chapters 30 and 31 are a 
discourse upon the Jews' league with Antichrist, and of its 
baneful consequences to them. They are exhorted to return 
to Jehovah from whom they have deeply revolted. South 
America is the land of trouble and anguish mentioned in 
30 : 6. The lion and lioness are the two branches of Jews 
of 11 : 1, and the viper and fiery flying serpent are the two 
later Antichrists of 14 : 28. 

Chapter 32 describes the blessedness of a Jewish refor- 
mation. Verse 10, "For days beyond a year shall ye be 
troubled, ye careless women." Some indiscretion will pro- 
long their trouble for a while, after the period of tribula- 
tion described in the foregoing chapters shall have ended; 
and they will not prosper "until the Spirit be poured upon 
them from on high." Chapter 33 is directed against the 
treacherous oppressors, the godless ones, the sinners in Zion. 
They shall be consumed "as thorns cut down, that are 
burned in the fire." 

Chapter 34 describes the terrible era of vengeance that 
shall be fulfilled before the Millennial era. "Their slain 
shall be cast out (unburied), and the stench of their ear- 

58 



THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

casses shall come up, and the mountains shall be melted 
with their blood.'^ There will be such sanguinary and de- 
structive conflicts that the strong and stable institutions 
of those times will be broken up. It will be "Jehovah^s 
day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of 
Zion.'^ The figures employed to describe the destruction 
of corrupt national and religious powers are very strong 
and striking. ^^The streams thereof shall be turned into 
pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land 
thereof shall become burning pitch. . . . The smoke 
thereof shall go up forever.^' Those powers will be re- 
duced to perpetual desolations. In strong contrast with 
that era of destruction will be the Millennial era of chap- 
ter 35. 

Chapter 36 introduces a prophetic circumstance in the 
intended siege of Jerusalem by the Assyrians. They had 
already taken the defenced cities of Judah, and came 
against Jerusalem intending to put an end to the king- 
dom. King Hezekiah sent to the Prophet Isaiah to pray 
for the remnant that were left. Deliverance was granted, 
and a sign was given. ^^Ye shall eat this year that which 
groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth 
of the same; and the third year sow ye, and reap, and 
plant vineyards, and eat the fruits thereof. And the es- 
caped of the house of Judah shall yet take root down- 
ward, and bear fruit upward^^ (37: 30, 31). 

The Assyrian invasion prefigures a perilous time to the 
people of God (probably including both Jews and Chris- 
tians), from the second form of Antichrist. A year in 
prophecy sometimes means an era. The first and second 
years, during which onty the spontaneous productions of 
the earth are eaten, suggests tw^o periods of the prophetic 
famine era, which is to be included in the first four trum- 
pets. ^^This year^^ applies to the third trumpet, and the 

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THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

'^second year" to the fourth trumpet. The '^third year*' 
is the fifth trumpet, the beginning of a more prosperous 
era. 

The prophetic viewpoint of chapter 38 is the beginning 
of the fourth trumpet. The sign that was given to Heze- 
kiah is a prophetic riddle. The ten degrees of the dial 
are equal to ten-twelfths of a day, exclusive of the night; 
and the number fifteen bears the same proportion to an- 
other number, which is eighteen. Ten, fifteen, and eight- 
een are three prophetic numbers that belong to the same 
general period. Hezekiah's life was finished, but fifteen 
years were added: even so fifteen years must be added 
to the complete number, or eighteen, to give the full 
prophetic era, which is thirty-three years. The ten de- 
grees of the dial represent ten years ; and the turning back 
of the dial shows that the era will date ten years back of 
the fourth trumpet, to which the circumstances of that 
era will belong. This riddle gives the dates of several 
important epochs of a critical era, when the Church shall 
be menaced by the powers of Antichrist. 

Chapter 40. ^^The warfare of Jerusalem is accom- 
plished." It is the Messianic body that is here intended. 
*^^The voice of one that crieth in the wilderness," an- 
nounced the advent of the Christ incarnate : a ^^voice" will 
again be heard at the approach of the Messianic era of 
the last three trumpets. The world at that time will be 
a spiritual desert, with no highway for the King when He 
shall come to reign; and it will be necessary to prepare 
the world for the kingdom of Christ. It will be a distinct 
era of the Church. 

Chapter 41. "Who hath raised up one from the East?" 
— not the far East, but Europe. The location is Great 
Britain, which will be the center of the new construction 
described in the context. "But thou, Israel . . . the 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

seed of Abraham my friend, ... I have chosen thee, 
and not east thee away.^^ The Jews will not be cast away 
with the rejected Christian body. Verse 25, "I have 
raised up one from the north, and he is come; from the 
rising of the sun one that calleth upon My name.^^ Two 
Messianic statesmen will be raised up, one from North 
America (called the North in prophecy), and the other 
from the far East. 

Chapter 42. ^'^Behold My Servant, whom I uphold; 
My Chosen, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My 
Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the 
nations.^^ God^s chosen institution of the last three trum- 
pets will lead the nations up to the true Messianic idea. 
Averse 18, "Who is blind but My servant? or deaf, as My 
messenger that I send T^ The context shows that the Jews 
are meant, a people downtrodden and oppressed. The 
forty-third and forty-fourth chapters are directed to the 
Jews. Chapter 44 : 5 mentions three classes, whose pro- 
phetic names are Jehovah, Jacob, and Jehovah Israel, ap- 
parently meaning Christians, Jews, and Christianized Jews. 

Chapter 44 : 28. The rebuilding of the temple is to 
be taken prophetically to prefigure the building anew of 
the Jewish institution. Cyrus is called God^s shepherd, 
and is the type of the leading patron of that reconstruc- 
tion which shall take place in the era of the bringing in 
of the Jews. 

Chapter 46 : 11. *^^Calling a ravenous bird from the 
East,^^ not the far East, but continental Europe, w^here 
the old power of Antichrist will then have their center. 
They will be instrumental in causing the late Antichrist 
power to lose their dominion, as described in chapter 47. 
Chapter 48 is directed to the corrupt and conservative class 
of Jews of the old type. Verse 20, "Go ye forth of Baby- 
lon.^^ Be not identified with the power of Anarchy. Chap- 

61 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

ter 49: 1-3, "Thou art My servant; Israel, in whom I will 
be glorified ;^^ a correct body of Jews, the reconstruction 
before mentioned. This branch is to "raise up the tribes 
of Jacob, and restore the preserved of IsraeV^ and to be 
"for a light to the nations/' 

Chapter 50 : 1. "Where is the bill of your mother's di- 
vorcement?" addressed to the old and rejected body of 
Jews. Verse 4, The Jews of the reformation are again 
the subject of the prophecy. Those two elates are the 
leading subjects of prophecy from this point on to the 
end of Isaiah's book. 

"Awake, awake,^' is the keynote of chapters 51 and 52. 
Chapter 51 : 6, "The heavens shall vanish away like smoke, 
and the earth shall wax old like a garment." The ex- 
isting order of things, both ecclesiastical and political, 
shall become obsolete and pass away. Chapter 52 : 13 to 
53:12, "Behold, My Servant shall deal wisely. He shall 
be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high. Like as 
many were astonished at thee. His visage was so marred 
more than any man, and His form more than the sons 
of men.'^ God's recognized Son and Servant was highly 
exalted, yet badly misrepresented. "So shall He startle 
many nations : kings shall shut their mouths at Him," be- 
cause of the wonderful things they shall see and hear. 
God's wise servant will suffer great afflictions in the per- 
son of His Church; and the clause that follows describes 
both His persecutions and theirs. 

Chapter 54. "Sing, barren . . . for more are the 
children of the desolate than the children of the married 
wife." The reformed Jewish branch that shall remain as 
an independent body when the two reformed branches of 
Jews and Christians shall unite, will outnumber the other 
branch. Chapter 55 is the gospel invitation, a figurative 
description of the blessings of the gospel. Chapter 56 : 9, 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

^^All ye beasts of the field, come to devour the beasts of 
the forest/' The domestic animals turning to devour the 
wild and fierce carnivorous beasts of the forest, typify the 
efforts of peaceable and law-abiding citizens to put down 
the lawless classes that were dominating the world. Chap- 
ter 57:3, 11, The powers of Antichrist will have grown 
arrogant because judgment has been long deferred; but 
they shall be taken away. 

Chapters 58 and 59 describe the shortcomings of the 
Jews. Chapter 60 describes a change for the better. 
Verse 8 beautifully compares the return of the Jews to 
the flying of doves as a cloud to their window. 

Chapter 61 : 1. ''The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is 
upon me, . . .to proclaim the year of Jehovah's 
favor,'' that shall succeed the Millennial era ; ^^and the 
day of vengeance of our God," that will be fulfilled in 
Satan's short season, before the era of Jehovah's favor 
shall begin. 

Chapter 63 : 1-14. "Who is this that cometh with dyed 
garments from Bozrah ? . . . I have trodden the wine- 
press alone; and of the peoples there was no man with 
me." The nations will not aid the Jews in their final con- 
flict with Antichrist. The "dyed garments from Bozrah" 
is a prophetic hint of the judgments that shall be visited 
upon the Mohammedan powers in that post-Millennial 
winepress period. 

Chapter 63 : 15 to 64 : 12. "Behold from the habitation 
of Thy holiness . . . Thy people possessed it but a 
little while. . . . Our holy and our beautiful house 
where our fathers praised Thee is burned with flre." The 
destruction of the Jews' city and temple will be one of the 
features of that winepress period. 

Chapter 65. "I am inquired of by them that asked not 
for Me," the nations who had not hitherto recognized the 

63 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

authority of Christ. ^^I have spread out My hands all the 
day unto a rebellious people/^ the conservative Jews of the 
East, who will cling to the old order of things. Verse 18, 
"^^I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, ... an in- 
heritor of My mountains/^ The reformation will depart 
out of that incorrigible body. Verse 15, "The Lord Je- 
hovah shall slay thee, and call His servants by another 
name.^^ The institution favoring the Mosaic economy shall 
be destroyed, and the reformed body that shall take their 
place will be called by another name. 

Chapter 66 : 3. "He that killeth an ox is as he that 
slayeth a man/^ etc. Adherence to the Mosaic sacrifices 
after God has put them away is abominally wicked. Verses 
6 and 7, "A voice of tumult from the city, a voice from 
the temple, a voice of Jehovah that rendereth recompense 
to His enemies. Before she travailed she brought forth; 
before her pain came she was delivered of a man-child.'' 
The above clause is a lively description of the final recon- 
struction. The reformation of that time will not be har- 
assed by Antichrist opposition; and the Church will not 
labor so painfully to accomplish a new organization^ suited 
to the new order of things, as in the reformation of the 
fifth trumpet. 

Verse 15. "Jehovah will come with fire, and His char- 
iots shall be like the whirlwind. . . . and the slain 
of Jehovah shall be many.^^ Many wicked people will be 
destroyed, even after the destruction of Antichrist. Verse 
17, The tree in the midst of the garden is a hint of the 
existence of some form of social corruption that must be 
destroyed. Verse 22, "The new heaven and the new earth 
shall remain before Me.^' The new order of things shall 
not pass away. "So shall your seed and your name re- 
main.^' The new institution under a new name shall con- 
tinue until the end of the age. 

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THE PKOPHETIC BOOKS 

Jeremiah 

Jeremiah's prophetic viewpoint is the fourth tnimpei. 
The siege of Jerusalem by the king of Babylon prefigures 
the siege of the Church by the world's future power of 
Babylon, or Antichrist Anarchy, which will be a politico- 
religious power of great importance in the fourth trumpet, 
when the third part of the world's political and religious 
lights shall be extinguished. At that time both Jews and 
Christians will have been guilty of the same general de- 
fections, and will be greatly corrupted by the prevailing 
forms of Antichrist. The prophet foresees a great evil in 
the rising power of Anarchy that shall sweep over the 
entire world. Interwoven with these prophecies are pro- 
phetic glimpses of the vicissitudes that shall befall the 
Jews during the last three trumpets. 

In a prophetic sense, Jeremiah was set "over the na- 
tions and over the kingdoms to pluck up and to break 
down and to destroy and to overthrow; to build and to 
plant." The rod of an almond-tree symbolizes the speedy 
fulfillment of the prophecies he is about to write : "I will 
hasten my word to perform it;" for they center upon an 
era of only forty years. The Immanuel institution was 
about to pass away, and at a not very remote period the 
Jewish institution would begin to suffer a protracted siege, 
that would end in its dissolution. There would also be a 
general breaking up of the nations. After the almond 
rod, the prophet sees a boiling caldron with the face 
thereof from the north. This typifies the location from 
which shall proceed "an evil that shall break forth upon 
all the inhabitants of the land/' a widespread calamity that 
shall affect society in general, and having its origin in 
North America. 

Chapter 2. "Thus saith Jehovah, I remember for thee 
5 65 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PKOPHECr 

the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals: 
how thou wentest after Me in the wilderness, in a land 
that was not sown;^^ true of the Israelites, and also true 
of the reformation that came out from under the Papacy, 
to establish Christianity in America. But at the time of 
the fourth trumpet the great tribulation of the sixth seal 
will have ended several centuries before, leaving America 
an utter waste; and the later Christian institution of the 
sealing period will have passed its wilderness period and 
grown corrupt thru the invasion of Antichrist errors. To 
that circumstance the prophecy applies. 

^*^What unrighteousness have your fathers found in 
Me? . . . Neither said they, Where is Jehovah that 
brought us up out of the land of Egypt?" the dominion of 
the old power of Antichrist, "wilderness . . . deserts 
. . . pits [of anarchy] . . , shadow of death . . . 
I brought j^ou into a plentiful land,^^ a return of pros- 
perity after the power of Antichrist was broken. "And 
now what hast thou to do in the way to Egypt to drink 
the waters of the Sihor [the Nile] : and what hast thou 
to do in the way to Assyria, to drink the waters of the 
river [the Euphrates] ?" The figure here employed is 
similar to Isaiah 7 : 18. "I had planted thee a noble vine, 
AvhoUy a right seed: how then art thou turned into the 
degenerate plant of a strange vine unto Me?" Like the 
vine of Isaiah's prophecy, the Church will degenerate at 
a later time. 

Chapter 3 describes two classes of backsliders, one of 
whom have been carried away and the other badly cor- 
rupted. They may be taken to represent the Immanuel 
and Jewish institutions, the first then being in its latest 
decadence, and the other looking forward to a similar fate. 

Chapter 4 describes the lamentable end of God's recog- 
nized institution. "I will bring evil from the North, and 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

a great destruction. A lion is gone up from the thicket, 
and a destroyer of nations/^ the third form of Antichrist, 
which will then begin to menace the governments. ^^De- 
struction upon destruction is cried, . . . suddenly are 
My tents laid waste, and My curtains in a moment.^' The 
disintegration of the Immanuel institution will be very 
rapid. ^'Yet will I not make a full end.^^ Material will 
remain for forming anew. 

Chapter 5 seems especially applicable to the Jews. The 
lion, the leopard, and the wolf of verse 6 seem intended 
for the three Antichrist powers that shall trample the 
Jews down and prey upon them. ^^But make not a full 
end.^^ Like the Christian institution, the Jews will have 
material for a new beginning. 

Chapter 6. The anarchists will make an evangelistic 
crusade. "Arise, and let us go up at noon,^^ and make a 
timely assault. "Woe unto us; for the shadows of the 
evening are stretched out;'^ the day of the era will soon 
be ended. "Arise, and let us go up by night, and let 
us destroy her palaces.^^ After the day shall end, their 
buildings will be destroyed. 

Chapters 7 to 13, inclusive, is a discourse that looks 
forward prospectively from the culmination of the era of 
defections to the evil that will then be coming upon the 
world. Chapter 14 is a prophetic view of the era of the 
great spiritual dearth of the first four trumpets, covering 
a period of five and a half centuries, and then in its final 
stage. Chapters 15 to 17 treat of the incorrigible char- 
acter of the Church in general of that era, and of its cer- 
tain doom, and is supplemented by parables on the same 
line of thought in chapters 18 and 19. The same trend 
of prophecy continues thru chapters 20 to 23, inclusive, 
in which the only escape for the faithful few is by leaving 
their degenerated institution; and both Christians and 

67 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

Jews appear to be held in view. The righteous Branch of 
David (23:5) is the future reformed Jewish institution. 

Chapter 24. They that are typified by the good figs 
shall be brought again to their land; "and I will build 
them;, and not pull them down ; and I will plant them, and 
not pluck them up.^^ This prophecy has never yet been ful- 
filled, and applies wholly to the future, in the remnant 
that shall be saved out of the Christian institution of the 
fourth trumpet, and out of the Jewish institution of a 
later time. 

In chapter 25 the forty-year period of the fourth trum- 
pet is shadowed somewhat dimly, and yet clearly enough 
to be seen; and the time is also revealed when the rapid 
decline of the Immanuel institution shall end in its dis- 
solution. The first year of Babylon is placed in the fourth 
year of Jehoiakim, and answers to the end of a twenty- 
three-year period of reformation in the fourth trumpet. It 
takes the thirteenth year of Josiah and the fourth year of 
Jehoiakim, inclusive, to make the twenty-three years; but 
this way of reckoning is common in Bible chronology. 
From the thirteenth year of Josiah to the end of Zede- 
kiah^s reign is forty years. The pitched battle of the shep- 
herds, mentioned in chapter 6, will begin in the twent)^- 
third year of the fourth trumpet, when the period of ref- 
ormation shall end; and that Avill be seventeen years, or 
more properly, seventeen and a half years, before the close 
of the fourth trumpet. 

The dial riddle of Isaiah, taken in connection with the 
twenty-three-ypai period of Jeremiah, gives the dates of 
some important crises thru which the Church will pass be- 
fore the crisis that shall bring it to an end. The ten de- 
grees of the dial were assumed to be equal to the fifteen- 
year period of Isaiah, and shows it to be a partial eighteen- 
year period, since ten is to twelve as fifteen is to eighteen. 

68 



THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

Ten and twenty-three equals thirty- three ; and fifteen and 
eighteen equals thirty-three. The ten-year period is to be 
added to the twenty- three-year period — not after, but be- 
fore it; and the fifteen-year period is to be added to the 
eighteen-year period — not after, but before it. There are 
four sub-periods of the thirty-three-years era, each of which 
will begin with an important epoch and end with an im- 
portant crisis. A study of Jeremiah^s prophecy will en- 
able us the better to understand that era, because it cen- 
ters upon the circimistances of those times. 

During the last ten j^ears of the third trumpet the Jews 
will be menaced by the second form of Antichrist, and a 
crisis (prefigured by Sennacherib's invasion) w^ll be safely 
passed. The Immanuel institution, after .fifteen years of 
tranquillity, ending with the fifth year of the fourth 
trumpet, will begin to be menaced by the third form of 
Antichrist. The proposal to ^^go up at noon'^ (chapter 
6:4) is prophetic of an assault in the midday of the 
eighteen-year siege, which will be at the beginning of the 
fifteenth year of the fourth trumpet. ^^The day declineth, 
the shadows of the evening are stretched out,'^ the eighteen- 
year day will end before the siege shall close. Within the 
succeeding night, the remaining seventeen years of the 
fourth trumpet, the institutions of the Church will be de- 
stroyed. Jeremiah speaks of the twenty-three-year period 
as an unsuccessful era of reformation. He had spoken, 
rising up early ; but they would not hear. 

Chapter 25:11. ^^And these nations shall serve the 
king of Babjdon seventy years,^^ when the third form of 
Antichrist shall come into power. After that time the 
winecup of fury shall pass from nation to nation; and ^^a 
great tempest shall be raised up from the uttermost parts 
of the earth; and the slain of Jehovah shall be from one 
end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth ;^^ 

69 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

so widespread and calamitous will the power of Anarchy 
become. ^^And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, 
nor the principal of the flock to escape/^ Eeligious insti- 
tutions will suffer as well as the world powers. 

Chapter 26. "In the beginning of the reign of Je- 
lioiakim^^ . . . Four years before the end of the twenty- 
three-year period of reformation faithful men will be raised 
up to warn the degenerated Christian institution of their 
defections and of their impending doom. The persecutions 
of Jeremiah foreshadow the sufferings of the faithful serv- 
ants of Christ of that future time. "Urijah was afraid^ and 
fled^ and went into Egypt/^ typifying the fearful of that 
era of persecution who shall fall away to the old power 
of Antichrist. 

Chapters 27 and 28. Jeremiah and Hananiah are the 
counterparts of two classes of statesmen of different views, 
who shall figure in the era when Anarchy shall begin to rise. 

Chapter 29. The Jews of the captivity represent the 
Jews of the future under the dominion of Anarchy. This 
prophecy refers to a later era than the fourth trumpet^ and 
the time will be long. "After seventy years be accom- 
plished for Babylon I will visit you/^ with a reforma- 
tion. The seventy-year period of Babylon here mentioned 
will be later than that of chapter 25 : 11^ and Anarchy 
will have passed its zenith. Chapter 30 describes a crisis 
thru which the reformation will pass, "the time of Jacob's 
trouble; but he shall be saved out of it. For ... I 
will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst 
thy bonds.'^ A threatened calamity will have a favorable 
ending, leading to the Jews^ emancipation. 

Chapter 31 applies to the era of the Jewish reforma- 
tion. "At that time, saith Jehovah, will I be the God of 
all the families of Israel, and they shall be My people.'^ 
The reformation will extend to all the Jews'. "The planters 
shall plant, and make common the fruit thereof/^ mean- 

70 



THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

ing that tlie}^ will enjoy their labors (Lev. 19:23-25). 
"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and 
gather them from the coasts of the earth. ... A 
great company shall return hither.^^ The people of God 
shall be gathered into their own institutions. "Eachel 
Aveeping for her children^^ represents the Jews as mourn- 
ing over their dispersions. "They shall come again from 
the land of the enemy; and there is hope in thine end, 
saith Jehovah, that thy children shall come again to their 
own border/^ There shall be a full restoration. 

Chapter 31 : 22. "Jehovah hath created a new thing 
in the earth, A woman shall encompass a man.^^ This 
figure is applied by John to the reconstruction of the 
fifth trumpet; but it here refers to a new era of the Jews. 
"Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make 
a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the 
liouse of Judah. ... I will put my law in their 
inward parts, and write it in their hearts.^^ That new 
covenant will be as permanent as God^s ordinance of the 
sun and moon and stars ; and will be the basis upon which 
the Jewish nation shall be perpetuated. 

Chapter 32. Jeremiah at the word of the Lord bought 
a piece of land, and sealed the evidence, at the time of 
the siege that was for a time to put an end to the national 
existence of the Jew^s. This he did to signify that heredi- 
tary rights would be recognized in the national restora- 
tion. In the prophetic sense it means that there will be 
a restoration after the dispersion, both of Jews and Chris- 
tians, and not a body formed out of new material. In 
that evengelical sense they will be the hereditary succes- 
sors of the old and rejected bodies. 

Chapter 33:15. "In those days, and at that time,'^ 
the time of the restoration, "will I cause a Branch of 
righteousness to grow up unto David . . . She shall 

71 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OP PROPHECY 

be called, Jehovah is our righteousness. For thus saith 
Jehovah, David shall never want a man to sit upon the 
throne of the house of Israel/' This righteous Branch 
will enter into the permanent institutions of that era. 
Like the permanent covenant of day and night, it will 
continue to the end of the age. Verse 24, ^^Those two 
families'^ are the two bodies of Jews of that era. 

Chapters 34 to 44 is a description of the incorrigible 
character of the Jews and of the circumstances of their 
captivity, all of which is a prophetic forecast of the future 
era of the Jews of the old type in their captivity under 
the power of Anarchy. The departure of the Jews from 
under the dominion of Babylon to go into Egypt, is to 
be interpreted prophetically in the Antichrist defection de- 
scribed by Isaiah. ^*^Go ye not into Egypt,'^ make no 
alliance with the old power of Antichrist. God is speak- 
ing to the Jews thru the centuries, to a time which is yet 
in the distant future. 

Chapter 45 is a statement of God^s purpose to break 
up all existing organizations. Chapters 46 to 51 contain 
a series of judgments against the nations. The arrange- 
ment in placing this discourse between the two accounts 
of the siege of Jerusalem appears to be an indication of 
the prophetic period of fulfillment. The Christian insti- 
tution will be broken up in the fourth trumpet, and the 
Jewish institution in the beginning of the sixth trumpet. 
Between those two circumstances Anarchy will be in the 
height of its power, and will be measuring out death-deal- 
ing blows against all organized powers. A few of the 
circumstances will be noted. 

Chapter 46 : 8, 10, 13. The old power of Antichrist 
shall be put down by the late power. Verse 28, There 
shall be a full end of all the nations to which Israel shall 
be scattered, but not a full end of IsraeL 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

Chapter 47. The fall of Protestantism- (See Isaiah, 
chapter 23.) 

Chapter 48:47; 49:6, 18, 33, 89; 50:40; 51:64. 
Some of the nations shall be restored, but others are to 
. be perpetual desolations. 

Chapter 50: 17. Israel will suffer in the third trum- 
pet, under the second form of Antichrist; and will after- 
ward suffer even more severelj^ in the fifth trumpet, under 
the third form of Antichrist. Chapter 51 : 45, 46, "My 
people, go ye out of the midst of her, and save yourselves 
every man from the fierce anger of Jehovah. And let 
not your heart faint, neither fear ye for the tidings that 
ye shall hear in the land; for tidings shall come one 
j^ear, and after that in another year shall come tidings, 
and violence in the land, ruler against ruler.^^ 

The era of war above referred to belongs to the sixth 
trumpet. The tidings of the first year would therefore 
be in the fifth trumpet near its close, when the trouble 
shall first begin. In the second era the war will assume 
greater international proportions. The Jews of that time 
are exhorted not to fear the threatening omens of war, 
and to depart out from under the dominion of the late 
power of Antichrist. 

Chapter 51 : 59-64. The prophetic date of JeremiaVs 
prophecy of the downfall of Babj^lon answers to the thirty- 
fourth year of the fourth trumpet, which is the time when 
the Messianic statesmen of that era will begin to antici- 
pate the downfall of the world^s great power of Anarchy. 

Lamentations 

The Lamentations of Jeremiah is a prophetic descrip- 
tion of the desolations that shall befall the Jews in conse- 
quence of their Antichrist defections. 

73 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

EZEKIEL 

EzekieFs prophecy gives a general outline of the plan 
of the age^ but dwells chiefly upon the era extending from 
the sixth seal to the final destruction of Antichrist. The 
prophet describes the circumstances leading up to the era 
of the Church's rejection, and explains the causes that 
shall lead to the dissolution of God's two recognized in- 
stitutions. The importance of that era in the plan of the 
age is illustrated in the vision of the four wheels and four 
living creatures. 

This vision is a prophetic riddle. In its literal sig- 
nificance it represents our earth as it would appear to a 
spectator situated at some distance out in space. The sun's 
rays shining upon our atmosphere charged with vapor 
would present the appearance of the strong wind, or 
whirlwind, in the Arctic current that sweeps down from 
the polar regions, and of the great cloud with the bright- 
ness of glowing metal, or amber. The four living crea- 
tures are one, and represent our earth in four dispensa- 
tions. The face of the earth is its surface, and the four 
faces are the four large tracts of land surface. Our at- 
mosphere is heavily charged with electricity; and some- 
where, all the time, it is shining and flashing in the man- 
ner described ; and out of the fire, the luminous sheets and 
torches, go forth lightning. 

EzekieFs riddle is a general statement of the plan of 
the age, and is a symbolic revelation of its dispensational 
features. Our attention is first called to a great whirl- 
wind which came out of the north, and a fire infolding 
itself with brightness as the color of amber; and out of 
the midst of the whirlwind came four living creatures. 
The prophetic meaning of the whirlwind is a great revo- 
lution, a general overthrow of the powers of the world at 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

a time when they are to be swept away. The vision of 
glory coming out of the whirlwind shows that God will 
be glorified thereby. The four living creatures and the 
four wheels, the dispensations and cycles that came out 
of the whirlwind, indicate a crisis that will be connected 
with the entire plan of the age. 

^^The living creatures had the likeness of a man.'' The 
appearance of the human in every part of the vision shows 
that it applies to the human era, the age of man. "Every 
one had four faces/' looking in all directions. "Every 
one had four wings/' flying in all directions. "The soles 
of their feet were like the soles of a calf's feet," a do- 
mestic animal, the symbol of civilization. "The hands of 
a man were under their wings," the symbol of human in- 
strumentality." "Their wings were joined one to an- 
other," to denote that the entire world should be brought 
into contact. ^^They turned not. as they went," traveling 
and commercial facilities being open in all directions. 
"They went every one straight forward," all obstacles in 
the way of national and commercial intercourse being over- 
come. 

"They four had the face of a man and the face of a 
lion on the right side, and they four had the face of an 
ox on the left side: they four had also the face of an 
eagle." The application of the four faces to the four 
great continents can readily be seen. On one side are the 
close, united continents of Europe and Asia ; one, the man- 
faced Europe, noted for its intellectual races; the other, 
the lion-faced Asia, the strong continent of powerful na- 
tions. On the left side, which is to say to the west, a little 
more isolated, but not wholly detached, is the ox-faced, do- 
cile Africa, the land of labor-serving people. The eagle 
land of America, with its two great outspread wings, the 
country of free institutions and liberty-loving people, is 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

wholly detached from the other three continents by great 
intervening oceans, as the language implies. ^*^Each of the 
living creatures had two wings that Joined one to another, 
and two that covered their bodies/^ The two pair of wings 
suggest commercial facilities by land and sea. 

^^The appearance of the living creatures was like burn- 
ing coals of fire, like the appearance of lamps or torches; 
it went up and down among the living creatures: and the 
fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning/' 
This is to be taken as a symbolic description of gospel and 
educational influences. The dross-consuming property of 
fire is the reason for its being employed in prophecy as a 
symbol of reformatory influences. As the purpose of 
lamps is to give light, they suggest the institutions of the 
Church as light-bearers of gospel truth. Lightning por- 
tends a storm, and is an omen of conflict. ^^The living 
creatures ran and returned as a flash of lightning.^^ This 
is suggestive of the modern uses of electricity and other 
quick modes of telegraphy, making it possible for persons 
to come and go (thru messages) like a flash of lightning. 
^^One wheel upon the earth beside the living creatures 
for each of the four faces thereof.^' The thought sug- 
gested is that each dispensation will have its center in one 
of the four great continents. They appear to move west- 
ward, from Asia to Europe and iVmerica in order, and 
thence to Africa. "The four wheels had one likeness,^' 
each representing a cycle of twenty-three centuries. "And 
. . . a wheel within a wheeV^ a twelve hundred and 
sixty-year cycle within each great cycle. "They went upon 
their four sides'^ (quarters), making a full revolution. 
'^They turned not when they went,^^ making but one revo- 
lution. Each cycle fulfilled twenty-three centuries, and 
neither more nor less. "The rings were so high that they 
were dreadfuV^ being twenty-three centuries in extent. 

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*^And they four had their rings full of eyes round about/^ 
to represent four eras of animated nature. ^'The wheels 
went beside the living creatures; . . . for the spirit of 
the living creatures was in the wheels/^ They were insep- 
arably connected, the living creatures and the wheels, the 
dispensations and the cycles. 

"Over the head of the living creatures was the likeness 
of a firmament, like the look of the terrible crystal/^ the 
clear and boundless sky, the expansion that typifies the 
separation between the earthly and the heavenly. ^'^And 
under the firmament were their wings straight, the one 
toward the other,^^ to show that travel progressed forward, 
not upward and downward, in the firmament, as the angels 
do. "And when they went, I heard the noise of their 
wings like the noise of great waters, like the voice of the 
Almighty, a noise of tumult like the noise of a host,^^ de- 
scriptive of an era of great activity, when God revealed 
Himself thru His administration. "When they stood, they 
let down their wings :'^ when progress ceased commercial 
facilities were restrained. "There was a voice, and the 
likeness of a throne above the firmament,^^ typifying the 
heavenly dominion. "And upon the likeness of the throne 
was the likeness of the appearance of a man upon it above,'' 
a Messianic idea similar to that expressed in Isa. 6 : 1, and 
meaning the Messiah ruling in His human capacity. That 
human form "had the appearance of fire,'' to denote His 
pure and fervent character. "And there was brightness 
round about him," to symbolize gospel illumination. "As 
the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day 
of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round 
about," to typify God's covenant to preserve His elect peo- 
ple at times when the world should be threatened with 
sweeping desolations. 

Chapter 2. The prophet is sent "to the children of Is- 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

rael, to nations that are rebellious, which have rebelled 
against Me/^ The message is to all Israel, the Church at 
large, both Christians and Jews. In great contrast with 
the vision of glorj^ is the roll of lamentations and mourning 
and woe, giving the dark side of the vision, and which is 
explained in the chapters that follow. Chapter 3 : 7, "The 
house of Israel will not hearken unto Thee; for they will 
not hearken unto Me/^ They are an unreclaimable class. 

Chapter 3: 12. . . . "And the Spirit lifted me up; 
and I heard behind me the voice of a great rushing, saying, 
Blessed be the glory of Jehovah from His place," the throne 
of His dominion before described. God will manifest Him- 
self to His own, even in times of apostasy. "And I heard 
the noise of the wings of the living creatures as they 
touched one another, and the noise of the wheels beside 
them, even the noise of a great rushing," descriptive of an 
era of great activity among all classes of society. Th-3 
prophet was to be a watchman to warn the righteous and 
the wicked. "But thou, son of man, behold, they shall 
lay bands upon thee, and they shall bind thee with them, 
and thou shalt not go out among them ; . . . and shalt 
not be to them a reprover: for they are a rebellious house.'' 
Faithful teaching would be restrained by such as were op- 
posed to the truth. 

Chapter 4. The type of a siege is to be understood in a 
general sense of the persecutions of the Church during the 
third and fourth trumpets. The 390-day period and tho 
forty-day period are the third and fourth trumpets, respect- 
ively, a year for a day. It will be a famine era, not of 
bread, but of the Word of God, because of the prevalence 
of Antichrist errors. The eating of polluted bread typifies 
the corrupt teachings of those times. 

Chapters 5 and 6. The type of shorn hair applies to a 
later period, "when the days of the siege are fulfilled." It 

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illustrates how the Jews are to be visited with famine, pes- 
tilence, war, and dispersion. The meaning is explained in 
the discourse that follows. 

Chapter 7. "An end, the end is come upon the four 
corners of the land.'^ Not only the Jews will suffer; but 
there will be a general visitation upon all departments of 
society. Evidently the prophet is speaking of the rise of 
anarchy, when "destruction cometh,"' and "mischief shall 
come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor.^^ 
(Jer. 4:19, 20.) 

Chapter 8. The north gate of the temple typifies the 
Christian institution, vvhose center will be in North Amer- 
ica. The general idea here presented is that the nearer 
one gets to the sanctuary, the greater are the abominations 
he sees. "Therefore will I deal in wrath: Mine eye shall 
not spare, neither will I have pity.^^ It is to be an era of 
severe visitations upon the Church. 

Chapter 9. They that have charge of the city are com- 
manded to come near. Six men came by way of the north 
gate, each with a slaughter weapon in his hand, and one 
clothed in linen with a writer^s inkhorn by his side. The 
north gate points locally to North America, where the Anti- 
christ Messiahs of the first four trumpets will hold their 
seat. The six men with slaughter weapons typify the six 
leading Antichrists of that era; and the man clothed in 
linen, the officiating vestment of the high priest, typifies 
Christ in His priestly character. "And they went in and 
stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God 
of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon it was, 
to the threshold of the house.'^ It is the Jews that are here 
intended. It will be the beginning of God^s return to 
Israel, standing at the threshold, ready to come among 
them. The marking and slaying are to be interpreted in 
the assaults of the Antichrists, and the providential preser- 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

vation of such as God shall spare. The corrupters of the 
Jewish institutions will suffer severe visitations; and the 
reason assigned is that "the iniquity of the house of Israel 
and Judah is exceeding great, and the land is full of blood, 
and the city is full of wresting of judgment ; for they say, 
Jehovah hath forsaken the earth, and Jehovah seeth not/^ 

Chapter 10 returns to the vision of the throne, the cher- 
ubim, and the four wheels. In the first vision the throne 
was above the firmament: in the second vision the throne 
is in the firmament and nearer the earth, the Messianic 
conception making a nearer approach to the terrestrial 
sphere. The man clothed in linen is commanded to "fill 
both hands with coals of fire from between the cherubim, 
and scatter them over the city/^ to typify an era of refor- 
mation. "Now the cherubim stood on the right side of the 
house,^' which means the side of right. The world at 
large will be favorable to the reformation. "And the glory 
of Jehovah mounted up from the cherub, and stood over 
the threshold of the house,^' typifying God's return to the 
Messianic Christian body. - "And the house was filled with 
the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of Je- 
hovah's glory.'' God's presence will be gloriously mani- 
fested among His people. "And the sound of the wings 
of the cherubim was heard even to the outer court, as the 
voice of God Almighty w^hen He speaketh." There will be 
a great stir; and society in general (the outer court) will 
begin to apprehend God's dispensational administration in 
the world. 

The man clothed in linen was commanded to go in be- 
tween the whirlings (revolutions of the cycles), under the 
cherub, and between the cherubim. A prophetic epoch is 
here intended. It belongs to the cherub between the cher- 
ubim, and which answers to the Messianic dispensation. 
"He went in and stood beside a wheel/^ the wheel within, 

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the cycle of the reformation. ^^And the cherub stretched 
forth his hand from between the cherubim unto the fire 
that was between the cherubim/^ The fire was not taken 
from the altar, but from between the cherubim ; and it was 
not taken by the priest of the altar, but by the cherub. The 
reformation will not be a distinctly religious movement; 
but will be of a purely dispensational character, addressing 
itself to the problems of the world in general. ^^And there 
appeared in the cherubim the form of a man's hand under 
their wings/^ to denote human instrumentality in the 
world's great dispensational movement. 

^^The four wheels beside the cherubim, one wheel be- 
side one cherub, and another wheel beside another cherub:" 
four distinct cj^cles, one for each dispensation. "They 
four had one likeness,'' a general resemblance, "and a 
wheel within a wheel," the era of the reformation being one 
of the wheels within. In the first vision there was a wheel 
for each of the four faces of the cherubim, to denote four 
dispensational centers ; in the second vision there is a wheel 
for each of the four cherubs, to denote the universality of 
the dispensations. "When they went, they went upon 
their four sides (quarters) ; they turned not as they went.'^ 
Each cycle makes one full revolution, but is not repeated, 
notwithstanding their general resemblance ; neither do they 
turn back upon their plane to take the world back to for- 
mer things. "But to the place whither the face looked they 
followed it," progressing in the direction of the divine 
plan. "They turned not as they went:" they did not go 
out of their divinely-appointed course. 

^^And their whole body, and their backs, and their 
hands, and their wings, and the wheels were full of eyes 
round about, even the wheels that they four had," to denote 
a fully-populated world, teeming Avith inhabitants in all 
the departments of life. The eyes of the wheels only are 
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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

mentioned in the first vision, to represent the race in their 
original spiritual character. The eyes of the cherubim 
represent the fallen race upon a lower or terrestrial plane. 
The eyes of the cherubim and wheels in the second vision 
represent man in his twofold character of animal and spir- 
itual beings the fallen and restored race; ^^for the spirit 
of the living creature was in the wheel s.^^ ^^As for the 
wheels, they were called in my hearing, the whirling V^ It 
is the present age, the cycles are now whirling; but it is 
not the whirling of the wheels alone, the revolution of the 
cycles, that is meant; but social, political, and religious 
revolutions, an era of revolution. In the four faces de- 
scribed the ox has changed to a cherub ; and may be taken 
to denote the future cosmopolitan character of Africa. 

The wheels stood or mounted with the cherubim; the 
dispensations and the cycles, the government of God and 
the masses of mankind, rising or falling together. ^^And 
the glory of Jehovah went forth from over the threshold 
of the house, and stood over the cherubim.'^ The reforma- 
tion will take international proportions. ^^And the cheru- 
bim lifted up their wings, and went up from the earth in 
my sight (above the political sphere), when they went 
forth, and the wheels beside them: and they stood at the 
door of the east gate of Jehovah^s house.^^ The east gate 
stands for the Jews of the East. The great dispensational 
movement will go East, and will have its center at Jerusa- 
lem among the Palestinean Jews. ^^And the glory of the 
God of Israel was over them above.^^ God Avill again be 
glorified in Israel. ^This is the living creature that I saw 
under the God of Israel by the river Chebar,'^ in the first 
vision. The cherubim and wheels have the same general 
import. ^^And as for the likeness of their faces, they were 
the faces which I saw by the river Chebar, their appear- 
ances and themselves; they went every one straight for- 



THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

ward/^ The four great continents will again figure in that 
later international era; and traveling and commercial fa- 
cilities will be open as before. 

Chapter 11 : 1-13 describes the corruptions of the Jew- 
ish leaders, and the judgments that shall be visited upon 
them. Verses 14-25, The inhabitants of Jerusalem rep- 
resent the power that shall dominate the Jew^s dominions^, 
and who will deny them their rights when they shall en- 
deavor to obtain their inheritance. "Yet will I be to them 
a sanctuary for a little while in the countries where they 
are come/^ the countries of the East near their inheritance 
where they shall be gathered. They will then be gathered 
from the peoples, and assembled out of the countries where 
they have been scattered, '^^and I will give you the land of 
Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take 
away all the detestable things thereof, and all the abomina- 
tions thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart 
(unifying them), and I will put a new spirit within you 
. . . P This is the covenant that God will then offer 
to His people, the Jews. 

"And the glory of Jehovah went up from the midst of 
the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the 
east side of the city.^^ This removal of the glory from 
the city to a place outside typifies the rejection of the Jew- 
ish institution, and the recognition of an outside body of 
Jews. The prophet then returned to the Chaldean captiv- 
itj', whose antitype will be in South America, in a seventy- 
year period of the fifth trumpet, under the third power of 
Antichrist. 

Chapter 12. The unreformed Jews of the fifth and 
sixth trumpets is the subject of EzekieFs prophecy from 
chapters 12-24, inclusive. The sign of removing typifies 
the future exile of the Jews; and the sign of trembling 
t}^ifies their desolations. This exile will be fulfilled after 

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THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

the seventy years' captivity. The proverb the Jews will 
then use, saying, "The days are prolonged, and every vision 
faileth/^ suggests that it will be a protracted era. It will 
be the future fulfillment of the four hundred years' exile 
of Gen. 15:13. 

Chapter 13 is a discourse against the false prophets of 
that era, and their vain visions of peace. Verse 9, They 
shall have no place in the reformation, nor in the land of 
Israel. Every effort to better their circumstances without 
a reformation will be unavailing. The righteous who are 
grieved with their lies shall be delivered out of their hands. 

Chapter 14. The elders of the Jews who seek to inquire 
of Jehovah are rejected because of their iniquities. Noth- 
ing short of a practical reformation will be accepted. A 
law is laid down to the effect that when a land (govern- 
ment) commits a trespass, and God sends famine or noi- 
some beasts or sword or pestilence upon it, the presence of 
the most rigliteous of men can not save it. They shall 
deliver but their own souls. Those four sore judgments 
shall be sent upon Jerusalem (the Jews, in their four hun- . 
dred years' desolation) ; "yet, behold, therein shall be left 
a remnant that shall be carried forth, both sons and daugh- 
ters. . . . And they shall comfort you, when ye shall see 
their way and their doings : and ye shall know that I have 
not done without cause all that I have done in it, saith the 
Lord Jehovah.'^ The Jews must understand the causes 
of their calamities and reform before their afflictions shall 
cease. 

Chapter 15. The Jewish institution, because of its 
desolations in that era, is likened to a burnt vine. In its 
best estate it was not profitable; how much less after the 
fires of desolation have devoured it. 

Chapter 16. The beginning of the Jews was like a 
wretched infant; now they are compared to an adulterous 

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woman. This chapter is a figurative description of the 
prosperity and corruption of the Jews after their restora- 
tion to their inheritance. It apparently applies to the 
period of the first four trumpets. Verses 26-28, Egypt 
and AssjTia, the two oldest forms of spiritual adultery here 
mentioned, will predominate in the third trumpet. "Thou 
hast moreover multiplied thy whoredom unto the land of 
traffic, nnto Chaldea/^ the late form of Antichrist, begin- 
ning to flourish in the fourth trumpet. 

Chapter 17. The Jews were forbidden to revolt from 
Babylon to Egypt. This word of prophecy is addressed to 
the Jews of the future, calling to them thru the centuries, 
not to secede from under the late Antchrist power, in favor 
of the old power. 

Chapter 18. The unjust parable of sour grapes will be 
in vogue among the Jews. God's equity is vindicated. 

Chapter 19. The parable of the two lions who were 
taken in the pit of the nations (the international system 
of anarchy) and brought with hooks, or impelled by force, 
first to Egypt and later to Babylon, the antitypes of the 
two powers of Antichrist. This parable is a sequel to the 
parable of the vine and the two eagles. The Jews will re- 
volt from the late power of Antichrist, who will afterward 
be subdued by the old power. 

Chapter 20. The Jewish elders are rejected. This will 
be subsequent to the rejection of chapter 14. It represents 
the Jews as having passed thru many corrections which 
they are required to consider. The prophet gives a rehear- 
sal of Israel's defections in the wilderness. They rebelled 
in Egypt, and were worthy of correction; "but I wrought 
for my name's sake, . . . and brought them into the 
wilderness." In this rehearsal God gave them His judg- 
ments and statutes and Sabbaths ; but they rebelled against 
Him, Again He wrought for His name's sake ; and lifted 

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THE HISTOPtlC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

up His hand that He would not bring them into their land. 
The children were then put upon trials and they rebelled ; 
but ^^I w^ithdrew My hand, and wrought for My name's 
sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of thf: 
nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.'^ These cir- 
cumstances are to have tlieir antitypes in a future deliver- 
ance from the old power of Antichrist, and in a transition 
period to be fulfilled before they shall enter their land. 

After the Israelites gained their inheritance, they built 
a high place and corrupted themselves; and for that cause 
they were to be gatliercd out from the peoples, and out of 
the countries wherein they Avere scattered, "with a mighty 
hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with wrath poured 
out: and I will bring you into the wilderness of the peo- 
ples; and there will I enter into judgment with you face 
to face.^' 'That prophecy will be fulfilled in a future Anti- 
christ defection, in the era of Ezekiel's prophecy; and will 
be followed by a protracted wilderness period in that future 
era, when they shall serve strangers four hundred years in 
a land that is not theirs. 

Chapter 20:45-48. "The forest of the field in the 
South," in South America, where the Jews will have a home 
in the wilderness era above referred to. That country will 
receive a terrible visitation. "The flaming flame shall not 
be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall 
be burnt thereby." This prophecy is explained in chapter 
21, where the two great powers of Egypt and Babylon, the 
two great Antichrist powers of the two preceding parables, 
are represented as waging a furious warfare against the 
Jews. "The deadly wounded one" is the old power in the 
era of the sixth trumpet (Rev. 13: 3). But "in the time 
of the iniquity of the end" he is commanded to "remove the 
mitre and take off the crown." They will lose their do- 
minion. "In the place where thou wast created, in the 

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land of thy birth, will I judge thee/^ in continental Eu- 
rope. 

In chapter 22 the sins of the Jews are enumerated, and 
the character of the prophets, priests, and princes described. 
It is prophetic of a coming era of defections arising out of 
causes that it will take many centuries to reveal. Chapter 
23 is the same discourse in allegory, which shows that there 
will be two families of the Jews. These will be the East- 
ern and the Western Jews. In chapter 24 the corrupted 
Jewish institution is typified by a boiling caldron. The 
scum not being removed, the meat is condemned and 
burned. The vessel being defiled with the meat, is like- 
wise condemned ; and placed empty upon a great fire, until 
it is burned into a molten mass along with its filthiness. 
This parable symbolizes the utter destruction of the then 
existing Jewish institution. The prophet's dumb grief is 
the sign of the great sorrow that will at that time fall upon 
the Jewish nation. In chapter 25 the neighbormg nations 
who rejoiced at Israel's calamities are reproved. Those 
words of prophecy are sounding thru the centuries to the 
future era of the Jews^ desolations prophetically described 
in the foregoing chapters. 

The three succeeding chapters, 26^ 27, and 28, are di- 
rected against Tyre, an old and noted city, having commer- 
cial relations with the world in general. Its antitype of the 
era to which the prophecy applies will be an old and noted 
religious power, and known thruout the world in general 
as the leading power of Protestantism. It is not classed 
with Antichrist powers ; but is described as an apostate re- 
ligious body that was originally correct. Chapter 28 : 21, 
Zidon is often mentioned in prophecy in connection with 
Tyre, and typifies one of two similar religious bodies, of 
which Tyre is the chief. 

Chapter 29. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, the great dragon 

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THE HISTORIC MEANIXG OF PROPHECY 

that lieth in the midst of his rivers, is the Dragon Messiah 
of the fifth trumpet. In a general sense the term is ap- 
plied to the old Antichrist power, during its alliance with 
the second power of Antichrist. They are to be ^'cast forth 
into the wilderness/^ typical of desolation, ''and fall upon 
the open field/^ or be left without protection ; ''because they 
have been a staff of reed to the house of Israel/^ A great 
disaster, a forty years^ desolation, is to fall upon them. 
They will then return into Pathros, the land of their origin 
(Italy), where they will be the basest of the kingdoms. 

Yerse 18. The king of Babylon served '^a great service 
against Tyre. ... I have given him the land of Egypt 
as his recompense for which he served, because they 
wrought for Me, saith the Lord Jehovah. In that day will 
I cause a horn to bud forth unto the house of Israel.^^ A 
new branch will begin to take the place of the rejected 
Jewish institution; and the services of Babylon against 
Tyre, the power of anarchy against Protestantism, will be 
favorable to the interests of that reformed branch. 

Chapter 30 discourses upon the era of Egypt's desola- 
tion. It will be a terrible visitation upon the old power of 
Antichrist by the late power. Verse 13, The Antichrist 
Messiah of that era will be the last to rule. Verse 24, 
Pharaoh shall groan before the king of Babylon with the 
groanings of a deadly wounded man. John places that 
circumstance in the sixth trumpet. 

Chapter 31 is addressed to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and 
an implied comparison is made with the Assyrian, who is 
likened to a cedar in Lebanon, whose stature is exalted 
above all the trees of the field. The greatness of the As- 
syrian and his downfall is discoursed upon; and in the 
closing paragraph he is identified with Pharaoh. ^'This is 
Pharaoh and all his multitude, saith the Lord Jehovah.^^ 

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THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

The terrible downfall of the world's future Assyria will be 
repeated in the later downfall of the Egypt of prophecy. 

Chapter 32 is a discourse upon the approaching down- 
fall of the old power of Antichrist. A net is to be spread 
over Pharaoh with a company of many peoples. ^^And I 
will leave thee upon the land, I will cast thee forth upon 
the open field'' without protection. ^"'And when I shall ex- 
tinguish thee, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars 
thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the 
moon shall not give her light." It will be an era of an- 
archy; and the gospel and government will be obscured. 
'^The sword of the king of Babylon shall come upon thee." 
The old Antichrist power will be smitten by the late power. 
Other great and terrible powers shall fall; and ^Tharaoh 
shall see them, and shall be comforted over all his multi- 
tude, . . . slain by the sword." 

Chapter 33. God's watchmen are to warn all the 
wicked, even tho they will not hear. The great reverses 
that shall befall the Jews will cause some of them to doubt 
the equity of God, but this the prophet vindicates. The 
circumstances described here are similar to those of chapter 
18, but belong to a later era. Verse 24, The people who 
inhabit the waste places of the land of Israel lay claim to 
the land ; but their abominations shall cause them to fall by 
the sword in that later era of Israel's desolations. 

Chapter 34. The prophets of Israel who feed them- 
selves, and do not feed the flock, shall cease ; and ^"'my serv- 
ant David" shall be the shepherd over them (in the Mes- 
sianic restoration of the Jews). That will be a prosperous 
era. 

Chapter 35. Mount Seir, Esau, or Idumea, will have 
its antitype in the last era of the Mohammedan power. 
When the whole earth shall rejoice they shall be desolate. 

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THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

Chapter 36 describes a more prosperous era of Israel. 
^"^The ancient high places^^ of verse 2 refer to Palestine. 

Chapter 37. The revival of an apparently dead cause 
is typified in vision 'by the resurrection in the valley of dry 
bones. The two sticks joined in the hand typifies the con- 
solidation of the two families of Jews of the Messianic era. 

Chapter 38. Gog and Magog, the chief princes of Me- 
sliech and Tubal, are to come against Israel long after the 
restoration. Gog is the name of the prince, and Magog is 
the name of the land. Meshech and Tubal are allies of 
Gog. Magog, ]\Ieshech, and Tubal are the names of the 
descendants of Japheth (Gen. 10:2; 1 Chron. 1:5). 

Their descendants are thought to be identical with the 
Scythians, a rude and barbarous people among the ancients 
whose country lay north of the Black and Caspian Seas, 
and stretching into Asia, Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya. Go- 
mer and Togormah are also mentioned as allies of Gog. 
Persia proper seems here intended. Ethiopia (Cush) was 
an extensive tract of country south of Egypt, and embrac- 
ing in its modern sense Nubia, Sennaar, Kordofan, and 
Abyssinia. Libya (Phut) was a country of Africa, and 
probably net far from Egypt. If it is to be identified with 
Libya of Acts 2:10 it may be located in Tripoli. Gomer 
was one of the sons of Japheth, and is here mentioned in 
connection with Togormah, one of the sons of Gomer. In 
a geographical sense it applies to Armenia. 

Chapter 39. The army of Gog is to come from ^^the 
sides of the North,^' but it can be seen that the North parts 
here mentioned are not geographically identical with the 
North of Daniel and other prophetic writers. The proph- 
ecy also applies to a much later era, even as late as the 
close of the Millennial era (Eev. 20: 7-10). 

It is impossible to say what countries are likely to fig- 
ure in the war of EzekiePs prophecy, since the governments 

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of the world in general will be wholly changed before that 
time. The North parts in a general way include all the 
power of Antichrist of that era. Some of the northern 
powers of one of the great continents will take a leading 
part in the post-Millennial conflict, and the prophetic cir- 
cumstances in general point to Africa. It will be the 
world's last fight with Antichrist. 

Chapters 40-48. A complete reconstruction is the gen- 
eral idea contained in EzekiePs vision of a temple and city. 
The three gates stand for the three branches of the Church : 
the Palestinian Jews, the Eastern branch, the East gate; 
the Western branch of the Jews, having their home in 
South America, the South gate ; and the Christian institu- 
tion, having their leading center in North America, the 
North gate. Those three branches of the Church are all to 
be included in the general reconstruction. 

Chapter 43 : 1-3. The glory of God that removed in 
Ezekiel's vision of the destruction of the citj^, returned in 
its reconstruction. "Harel,'' the mountain of God, and 
^^Ariel,'^ the fireplace of God, appear to be distinctly Jewish 
appellations. 

Chapter 44 : 1-3. The outer gate of the sanctuary on 
the east is to be held sacred for the prince; and no man 
is permitted to enter it; because Jehovah, the God of Is- 
rael, entered by it. The meaning appears to be that an- 
cient Jerusalem in the East is to be the seat of God's ter- 
restrial dominion. Verse 4, The glory of Jehovah as it 
filled the house was seen from the prospect of the north 
gate. God's presence in His triune body the Church, and 
the glory with which He shall honor it, must be viewed 
from a Christian standpoint. 

The partitioning of the twelve tribes tj^ifies the full 
restoration of the Jews. 



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THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

Daniel 

The book of Daniel furnishes a progressive series of rev- 
elations, which covers a period extending from the time of 
the power of ancient Babylon to the Millennial era. 

Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the image is an enigma of 
the progress and development of a world power, of which 
the power of Babylon should be the beginning. In the days 
of those kings the God of heaven should set up a kingdom, 
which should break in pieces and consume all those king- 
doms; and it shall stand forever. 

Those four world powers have been fulfilled in the 
Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Grecian, and the Ro- 
man Empires. In the time of the fourth the kingdom of 
heaven was preached by John the Baptist, and later by 
Christ Himself. The breaking up and consuming of those 
powers has been fulfilled only in type. In their old form 
they have passed away; but it is yet to be fulfilled in the 
breaking up of the powers of the world before the Millen- 
nial era. 

Nebuchadnezzar^s dedication of the image will have its 
antitype in the establishment of the old system of Anti- 
christ as the State religion, under the world's future Baby- 
lon, the Antichrist power of Anarchy of the sixth trumpet. 

Nebuchadnezzar's vision of the tree is to be interpreted 
in the world-wide dominion of Antichrist ; and reveals a fu- 
ture downfall and revival again of the Antichrist powers. 
The hewing off of the branches, and sparing of the stock 
and roots, signifies that the institution will be shattered, 
but not destroyed; while the band of iron and brass s}^m- 
bolizes the power and universality they shall yet retain. It 
will be among the tender grass of the field, to typify its 
effect upon the general prosperity. The seven times are 
the seven trumpets. The twelve months' respite is a year 
of years, to be fulfilled before the seven trumpets. The 

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insane and beastly period of Antichrist is the era of the 
false Messiahs. 

The weighing and numbering of the Chaldean kingdom 
in the handwriting on the wall prefigures a crisis to the 
third power of Antichrist, when they shall have reached the 
zenith of their power. The raising up of the Medes to ac- 
complish that overthrow is mentioned in Isa. 13 : 17 and 
Jer. 51: 11, where it is to be understood prophetically of 
some modern world power. 

The four beasts of Daniel's vision typify four kings and 
the powers they represent in the times of the false Mes- 
siahs. John's revelation shows that there will be seven of 
those world kings, one for each of the seven trumpets, and 
the four beasts of Daniel are the first four. The "little 
horn'' is an Antichrist sect that will begin to be of im- 
portance in the fourth trumpet, and will be the beginning 
of the third form of Antichrist, a form of anarchy, and the 
world's future Babylon, which will flourish to the end of the 
seven trumpets. 

There is a lengthy interval between the era of the four 
kingdoms of Nebuchadnezzar's dream and the era of the 
four beasts of Daniel's vision; but the second vision of 
Daniel reveals two great world powers, the antitypes of 
Persia and Greece, that shall flourish in that interval. The 
prophet speaks of those world powers both as kings and 
kingdoms, and apparently means both. The dominant 
power w^ill be broken by a rising rival power ; and a revolu- 
tion will afterwards occur, and the victorious nation will 
be divided into four separate governments. Within the 
limits of one of those divisions an Antichrist party will rise 
and get the control of the government, and set up the abom- 
ination of desolation; which will interpret the great trib- 
ulation foretold by Our Lord, and described by John under 
the sixth seal. 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

The limit of time from that circumstance until the 
cleansing of the sanctuary^ or final abolishment of Anti- 
christ corruptions^ is two thousand and three hundred 
prophetic days (evening mornings)^ or twenty-three cen- 
turies. The profanation of Antiochus^ the Grecian, is the 
antitype of that circumstance, and is the beginning of a 
twenty-three-century cycle, that will be succeeded by a sec- 
ond twentj^-three-century cycle, that will be ushered in by 
an Antichrist profanation. 

In the interpretation of the vision it is said that in the 
latter time of their kingdom (of those four governments) 
''a, king of fierce countenance and understanding dark sen- 
tences shall stand up.^^ That fierce king is the first false 
Messiah. "His power shall be mighty, but not by his own 
power.^^ It will be delegated power that he shall exercise ; 
and that explains how he shall be broken without hand. 
This vision ^l3elongs to (an era of) many days.^^ 

The seventy sevens of DanieFs prophecy was fulfilled 
in the era of Christ's incarnation. It was to date '^^from 
the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build 
Jerusalem.^' There was an edict by Cyrus, and a later 
edict by Darius, kings of Persia, for rebuilding the temple, 
and a third edict by Artaxerxes (Longimanus), in the au- 
tumn of 457 B. C, for rebuilding Jerusalem. The seventy 
sevens date from the third edict. The midst of the last 
prophetic week was the spring of A. D. 30, when the Lord 
put an end to the Jewish sacrifices by tlie offering of Him- 
self upon the cross. 

It is evident that DanieFs seventy weeks' prophecy in its 
Messianic fulfillment applies to a later time bordering 
upon the Millennial era. John's revelation places the Mes- 
sianic year of his prophecy immediately after the sixth 
trumpet; and that seventy weeks' era will begin after the 
first twenty -one years of tlie fifth trumpet. "The people of 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the 
sanctuary/^ an opposing Antichrist power laboring to de- 
stroy the Church. ^'^And he shall make a firm covenant 
with many for one week/^ The figure of ambiguity is very 
marked in this sentence. In a general sense there will be 
a seven years^ period of inauguration of the (or a) Mes- 
siah. It will introduce a period of conflict between the 
true and the' false Messiah; and desolations shall be visited 
upon the desolator to the end of that period^ which will be 
to the close of the seventh trumpet. 

Daniels fourth vision reveals a great warfare^ and 
shows what shall befall the Jews in the "latter days.^^ The 
one and twenty days of 10 : 13 is an important era of the 
great reformation, which is allegorically described by Eze- 
kiel. That era of revolution is outlined by Daniel in his 
four visions. Persia and Greece are to figure in that war- 
fare, and are to be understood in their typical sense. The 
first false Messiah will be an American; and the three suc- 
ceeding false Messiahs will hold their seat in America. The 
fourth, who shall be Yery rich and powerful, "shall stir up 
all against the realm of Greece/^ which is to be interpreted 
as meaning trouble at large between Europe and America. 

"And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with 
great dominion; and do according to his will. xA.nd when 
he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken; and shall 
be divided toward the four winds of heaven.^^ The form 
of the third beast of DaniePs enigma shows it to be the 
third false Messiah of which the prophet is speaking in this 
clause. This divided Antichrist power is "not to his pos- 
terity;, nor according to his dominion wherewith he ruled.^^ 
In its first form it will be wholly done away, "plucked up 
even for others besides these/^ or displaced by others who 
shall represent different Messianic ideas. "And the king of 
the South shall be strong.^^ . . . The two Americas are 

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THE HISTORIC MEANING OP PROPHECY 

here to be understood as the North and the South. The 
vicissitudes described to verse 21 extend to the end of the 
first half century of the third form of Antichrist, or be- 
ginning of the fifth trumpet. 

The ^^contemptible person, to whom they had not given 
the honor of the kingdom/^ is to be identified with the 
Dragon Messiah of the fifth trumpet. That Antichrist of 
the second form will gain the Messianic throne of the old 
power. The time of those three Antichrist powers will 
cover a period of several centuries; and it appears that 
they will be divided into two general divisions styled the 
North and the South, which will sometimes be on amicable 
relations, and sometimes warring against each other. 

The end of the wonders described in the vision will ex- 
tend to the close of the 1,260-day period, which will be to 
the end of the seven trumpets. There will be two Millen- 
nial epochs, one at the end of 1,290 days from the begin- 
ning of Antichrist desolations, and the other 1,335 days 
from the same date, a year for a day. 

HOSEA 

God made use of Hosea^s domestic tribulations to typify 
the spiritual whoredom, or idolatry, of the Church. The 
name of the eldest child, Jezreel, which was also the name 
of Ahab^s palace, and the reference to Baal worship in 
chapter 2 : 8, makes it appear that Hosea^s prophecy applies 
to the era of the fallen Star of the fifth trumpet, whose 
system of idolatry is the antitype of the Baal worship that 
was set up under Ahab. 

The three children of Hosea's family can be seen to rep- 
resent three bodies of the Jews, whose prophetic appella- 
tions are Ephraim, Israel, and Judah. Chapter 2 : 2, The 
children are exhorted to plead with their mother — the peo- 

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pie of God with the Church — to bring about a reformation. 
Verses 14-23, After the visitation of the Churches cor- 
ruptions, she shall be corrected. In chapter 3 God^s great 
forbearance with the Jews is typified by the restoration of 
an adulterous wife. '^'Thou shalt abide for me many 
days;^^ even so "^^the children of Israel shall abide many days 
without king, and without prince, and without sacrifice, 
and without pillar, and without ephod or terraphim,^^ or 
without the distinguishing characteristics of Jews. 

Chapter 4 : 1, 2 describes the deplorable state of society 
in that era of Antichrist defection. ^^There is no truth, 
nor kindness, nor knowledge of God in the land. There is 
naught but swearing and breaking of faith, and killing, and 
stealing, and committing adultery.^^ 

Chapter 5 : 7. The new moon or month is probably the 
last thirty j^ears of the fifth trumpet and a transition period 
bordering upon a new era of the Jews. Chapter 6 : 1, The 
last three trumpets are divided by John into two general 
eras, which may be the two days here intended; and the 
third day would then be the Millennial era, which is the 
time when the land (society in general) shall be lifted up 
to a higher plane (Zech. 14: 10). 

Chapter 6:11. "Also, Judah, there is a harvest ap- 
pointed for thee, when I bring again the captivity of my 
people.^^ It would be impossible to take this passage in 
anything but a prophetic sense. The ten tribes of Israel 
lost their identity, and Judah only was restored. Israel 
and Ephraim are synonymous, but in their prophetic sense 
seem here intended for two Jewish branches. When these 
shall be restored, there will also be a restoration of the 
other branch. That restoration is to be fulfilled in the 
Jewish reconstruction of the sixth trumpet. Chapter 7 de- 
scribes Israelis corruptions and Antichrist defections. 

Chapter 8: 13. "They (Ephraim and Israel) shall re- 
7 97 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

turn to Egypt/^ Chapter 9 : 3, ^^Ephraim shall return to 
Egypt^ and they (Ephraim and Israel) shall eat unclean 
food in Assyria/^ Chapter 11:5^ ^^He (Israel) shall not 
return unto the land of Egypt; but the Assyrian shall be 
his king/^ Going to Egypt or Assyria means coming un- 
der the dominion of the two older forms of Antichrist ; and 
eating unclean food in Assyria means having fellowship 
w^ith them. Chapter 10:10^ ^^Bound to their two trans- 
gressions/^ defections under the two forms of Antichrist. 
Chapter 12 : 1^ ^^They make a covenant with Assyria^ and 
oil is carried into Egypt/^ having fellowship with the two 
forms of Antichrist^ as in some of the foregoing passages. 
Chapter 12:12^ "Jacob fled into the field of Aram^ and 
Israel served for a wife.^^ This beautiful parable hints 
at the separation of a fugitive body of persecuted Jews; 
and their subsequent union with another body. 

Chapter 13:1. "When Ephraim spake trembling he 
exalted himself in Israel ; but when he offended in Baal he 
died.^^ There will be a period of respite^ until the Jews 
shall become corrupted under the third form of Antichrist. 
Chapter 14 : 3, "Asshur shall not save us.^^ Salvation is 
not to be expected of an Antichrist power. "I will heal 
their backslidings ; I will love them freely.^^ God will use 
healing measures to correct His people. Verses 5-9 de- 
scribe a prosperous future after the restoration of the Jews. 

Joel 

The prophetic era to which JoeFs prophecy applies is 
the sixth seal. There is to be a restoration of the years of 
desolation in a period of prosperity ; and the sealing period 
is the only one so described within the limit of that 1^260- 
day cycle. 

Chapters 1 and 2. The prophet describes that scourge 

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THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

under the figure of great and destructive swarms of insects, 
that completely destroy the produce of the earth in three 
successive attacks. This he interprets as ^^a nation strong 
and without number. His teeth are the teeth of a lion, 
and he hath the jaw teeth of a great lion.^^ In chapter 2 
the prophet describes this desolating army as ^^a great peo- 
ple and strong. There hath not been ever the like^ neither 
shall be any more after them^ even to the years of many 
generations.^^ He speaks of this destroying force as Je- 
hovah's army; and calls upon the people of God to turn 
with all their heart, and with fasting and weeping and 
mourning. The prophet returns the answer of Jehovah to 
the supplications of the Church, in the promise to send new 
wine and grain and oil, and to remove far off the northern 
army. The years of famine shall be restored; and those 
desolations will be followed by an era of prosperity. . "And 
it shall come to pass afterward,^' after the Antichrist 
scourge, "that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh : and 
your sons and 3^our daughters shall prophesy. . . . The 
sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, 
(the law and the gospel obscured under anarchy) before 
the great and terrible day of Jehovah come.^^ 

Chapter 3. "When I shall bring again the captivity of 
Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations, and bring 
them down to the valley of Jehoshaphat.^' This is not to 
be confused with the battle of Armageddon of John's 
prophecy, but comes at an earlier time. The valley of Je- 
hoshaphat was the name of a ravine where Judah gained a 
great victory under King Jehoshaphat. The use of the 
term is to be interpreted in a great victory for the right. 

"Proclaim ye this among the nations; prepare war: 
stir up the mighty men ; let all the men of war draw near, 
let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords, and 
your pruning hooks into spears. . . . Let the nations 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

bestir themselves^ and come up to the valley of Jehosha- 
phat: for there will I sit to judge all the nations round 
about/^ in the great international issue of the first and sec- 
ond trumpets. "Put ye in the sickle^, for the harvest is ripe 
. . . the press is full, the vats overflow, for their wicked- 
ness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of 
threshing: for the day of Jehovah is near in the valley of 
threshing.^^ "War is the harvest of wickedness; and the 
battlefield is its threshing-floor. "The sun and moon are 
darkened/^ the powers of Church and State suspended ; "and 
the stars withdraw their shining/' political and religious 
leaders ruled down in that era of anarchy and war. "Je- 
hovah shall roar from Zion, and utter His voice from Jeru- 
salem, and the heavens and the earth shall shake.'' God 
will exercise His power for good among the ruins of men. 

A prosperous era shall then follow. "The mountains 
shall drop down sweet wine, and the hills shall flow with 
milk, and all the brooks of Judah shall flow with water. 

. . Egypt shall be a desolation, and Edom shall be 
a desolate wilderness, . . . but Judah shall abide for- 
ever, . . . and I will cleanse their blood that I have not 
cleansed: for Jehovah dwelleth in Zion." The Antichrist 
and Mohammedan powers shall be destroyed; but the 
Church will be corrected, and remain to the end of the age. 

Amos 

The prophetic date of the prophecy of Amos, two years 
before the earthquake, would place the prophetic viewpoint 
at the close of the fourth trumpet, since the earthquake re- 
ferred to typifies the great agitation of the seventh trumpet. 
At that iime the corrupted Christian institution of the first 
four trumpets will have come to an end ; and the prophecy 
of Amos is directed to the Jews of that era. In the first 

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two chapters he takes a retrospective view of Israel's past 
vicissitudes; and in the four succeeding chapters he views 
Jewry as it is, rich and voluptuous^ at the time to which the 
prophecy applies, and he denounces against them the evils 
that shall overtake them. 

Chapter 4 : 4. ^^Come to Bethel, and transgress ; to Gil 
gal, and multiply transgression/^ The meaning here is 
similar to Hosea 10 : 10, which refers to the two forms of 
Antichrist by which the Jews will at that time be cor- 
rupted. Averse 7, ^^And I also have withholden the rain 
from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest.'^ 
The era of the seven trumpets will be noted for famines. 

Chapter 5:2. ^^The virgin of Israel is fallen; she 
shall no more rise.^^ The Jewish institution is unreclaim- 
able. Chapters 5 and 6 describe the character of the un- 
reclaimable and rejected Jewish institution. The image 
worship of chapter 5 : 26 will be fulfilled in future Anti- 
christ defections. Chapter 6:10, *^^IIold thy peace; for 
Ave may not make mention of the name of Jehovah'' w^hile 
under the dominion of Antichrist. 

Chapter 7 is a figurative description of the Antichrist 
power that shall labor to destroy Israel. The locusts typify 
the army of destroyers of the fifth trumpet. These are to 
be followed by the same force in their more formidable 
character of. the sixth trumpet, when ^^the Lord Jehovah 
called to contend by fire." (See ninth chapter of Eevela- 
tion.) The plumbline placed in the midst of Israel is the 
symbol of uprightness, and typifies the necessity of a ref- 
ormation. 

The basket of summer fruit of chapter 8 typifies the end 
of the season, and is to be interpreted in the end of the 
then existing Jewish institution. Chapter 9 describes the 
hopeless destruction of the "sinful kingdom," (which the 
context shows to include both Jews and Protestants), save 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

that the house of Jacob (the Jews/ will not be utterly de- 
stroyed. ^'In that day will 1 raise up the tabernacle of 
David that is fallen."' The Jewish institution will be re- 
constructed ; and the Jews will enter upon a new and pros- 
perous era. 

Obadiah 

In Obadiah^s prophecy Edom represents the principal 
Mohammedan power • and at the time to which the proph- 
ecy applies^ it may be intended to mean Mohammedanism 
in general. They are charged with hostilities against the 
Jews^ to whom they are a kindred nation. In the final out- 
come the Jews will wholly destroy the Mohammedan power, 
and take their dominion ; and the Mohammedan people will 
be evangelized by them. 

« 
Jonah 

In the prophecy of Jonah^ Nmeveh typifies the second 
form of Antichrist^ since that city was the capital of As- 
syria. The prophecy points to a great calamity that shall 
befall that Antichrist power near the close of the third 
trumpet^ and threatening their destruction. The forty 
days' respite is the fourth trumpet, a year for a day. The 
hint given by Isaiah of a partial reformation of the two 
older Antichrist institutions, explains the prophetic mean- 
ing of the Ninevites' repentance. (See Isa. 19: 24.) 

Our Lord mentioned Jonah's three days' burial in the 
sea as a prophetic sign similar to one that should be given 
to the Jews in His own three days' burial in the earth. As 
Jonah had warned the Ninevites of impending destruction 
to be fulfilled in forty days, even so did He warn the Jews 
of the impending destruction of Jerusalem, which was ful- 
filled in forty years, because they did not repent. 



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MiCAH 

The prophecy of Micah introduces that period of cor- 
ruption that shall end in the rejection of God's recognized 
institution of the Church. Samaria and Jerusalem in 
their prophetic sense are to be here understood as referring 
to the Church at large. 

Chapter 1. ^^Jehovah cometh forth out of His place to 
tread upon the high places of the earth/' including the in- 
stitutions of both the Church and State. The Church is to 
be stripped of her possessions ; '^ior of the hire of a harlot 
she gathered them; and to the hire of a harlot shall they 
return.'' Antichrist corruptions are sanctioned for the 
sake of financial advantages ; and those financial advantages 
shall return to Antichrist. A^erses 9-16 represent the 
cities of Judah as being in great perplexity^ because of a 
threatening siege. It is descriptive of the perplexity of 
religious institutions in the era bordering upon the fourth 
trumpet, when many religious lights shall be extinguished. 

Chapter 2: 10. ^^Arise ye, and depart; for this is not 
your rest : because of uncleanness that destroyeth, even with 
a grievous destruction." God's people are counseled to de- 
part out of an institution which is too badly corrupted to 
furnish them a spiritual home or resting-place. ^*T will 
surely assemble^ Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather 
the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the 
sheep of Bozrah : as a flock in the midst of their pasture, 
they shall make a great noise by reason of the multitude 
of men." A great convention will be held at the close of 
that era of defection in the fourth trumpet; and all the 
remnant of uncorrupted adherents of the Church will be 
there represented. "The breaker is gone up before them: 
they have broken forth and passed on to the gate, and are 
gone out thereat : and their king is passed on before them, 

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THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

and Jehovah at the head of them/^ The figure of a flock 
of sheep that have determined to leave their fold, and 
broken thru the gate after their leader, is here employed. 
It describes the carrying out of a purpose that shall be de- 
termined and acted upon by the convention, of taking a 
formal departure out of their corrupted institution. 

Chapter 3 describes the rapacious character of the 
Church after the departure of the class above described. 
^^Yet will they lean upon Jehovah, and say. Is not Jehovah 
in the midst of us ? No evil shall come upon us.'^ 

Chapter 4. ^^But in the latter days it shall come to 
pass . . . '^ This passage is identical with Isaiah 2 : 2-4, 
and refers to the last gospel eras, when the gospel shall be 
the leading power in the world, and shall stand at the head 
of all other powers. ^^Now why dost thou cry aloud? 

. . Be in pain, and labor to bring forth, daughter of 
Zion, like a woman in travail.^' This is the circumstance 
tliat John describes under the same figure of a w^oman in 
travail. ^Tor now shalt thou go forth out of the city,^^ out 
of the existing institution of the Church, ^^and shalt dwell 
in the field,^^ for want of churches, ^^and shalt come even 
unto Babylon,^^ shall be placed upon the same religious 
footing as the new form of Antichrist. ^There shalt thou 
be delivered,^^ a new institution formed. 

^^ Arise and thresh, daughter of Zion/^ The reformed 
body is to assume an aggressive attitude in the coming con- 
flict. It is the war in heaven which John describes. ^^Now 
shalt thou gather thyself in troops, daughter of troops.^' 
There will be centers of organization. "He hath laid siege 
against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a 
rod upon the cheek.^^ The reformed body will be perse- 
cuted, and treated with indignity. 

Chapter 5. Bethlehem-Ephrathah was the birthplace 
of our Lord, and typifies the humble origin, but great im- 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

portance, of the body above described, of which He shall 
be the head. That institution is to be the ^^ruler in Israel/' 
in the sense of being the leading religious institution, 
^Vhose goings forth is from ancient daj's/^ or having an 
origin of great antiquity. ^^Therefore will He give them 
up/^ they sliall receive no signal favors from heaven, '^until 
the time that she who travaileth hath brought forth/' until 
the new era shall begin in the birth of that new body. 
^^For now shall He be great unto the ends of the earth.^' 
The new institution is to be of world-wide importance 
among all nations. ^^And when the Assyrian shall come 
into our land, . . . ^' That Messianic body will be in- 
vaded by the second form of Antichrist. ^^Then shall we 
raise against him seven shepherds and eight principal 
men/^ to lead in opposing them in the great 'Var in 
heaven.'^ 

Chapter 6 : 2. ^^ Jehovah hath a controversy with His 
people, and He will plead with Israel." It is the Jews the 
|)rophet is now addressing. The question of offerings and 
sacrifices will have no place in that controversy ; but ^% do 
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly before 
thy God." That is the basis of a reformation that shall 
be undertaken among the.JcAVS. The remainder of the 
chapter and to chapter 7 : 6 describes the general corrup- 
tion of the Jews of that time. 

Chapter 7. ^^When I fall I shall rise." The Jews 
shall be raised up after their reverses. ^'K day for build- 
ing thy walls." The Jews shall again be protected in their 
rights. They will enter upon a more prosperous era after 
the tribulations of the fourth trumpet. ^^Yet shall the land 
be desolate, because of them that dwell therein, for the 
fruit of their doings." Their later desolations will be vis- 
ited upon them, because of their wickedness. ^^As in the 
days of thy coming forth out of Egypt will I show unto 

105 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

him marvelous things/' in the severe retributions that shall 
be visited upon the Antichrist powers at the time of the 
Jews' deliverance. ^The nations shall see" those divine 
visitations; and when the Jews shall be separated from 
their national sins^ God will "perform His truth to Jacob, 
and His loving kindness to Abraham^ which thou hast 
sworn unto our fathers from the days of old/' 

Nahum 

The subject of this oracle is Nineveh^ and means the 
second form of Antichrist. Jonah foretells their threat- 
ened destruction at a time when the}^ shall be spared; but 
Nahum speaks of the time of their end. 

"^'He will make a full end : affliction shall not rise up a 
second time. . . . And Jehovah hath given command- 
ment concerning thee that no more of thy name be sown.'' 
The Antichrist institution w^ll be wholly and finally de- 
stroyed It is the world's last affliction^ the last great con- 
flict with Satan. The prophet describes the scene of that 
time as one of tremendous activity, a struggle that will be 
short but fierce. 

Habakkuk 

In the form of a dialog the prophecy of Habakkuk sets 
forth the prevalence of wickedness in the early part of the 
era of Anarchy. The circumstances answer to the time of 
the fifth trumpet, when the third form of Antichrist shall 
begin to be strong and numerous. 

Chapter 1. "The law is slacked, judgment doth not go 
forth, for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; 
therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.'^ Because of 
the hampering of the law an incredible wonder will be ac- 
complished in the raising up of the Chaldeans, the third 
form of Antichrist, of which the Chaldean dominion, or 

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THE PROPHETIC BOOKS 

Babylon, is the type. "They are terrible and dreadful. 
. . . They come all of them for violence." They will be 
fierce and destructive. "His might is his god." They will 
be of atheistic tendencies. 

"Jehovah has ordained him for judgment/' and "estab- 
lished him for correction/' against the wicked govern- 
ments of that time ; but since God is "of purer eyes than to 
behold evil" (with allowance), and "that canst not look on 
perverseness" (with toleration), the prophet asks why he 
should seem to assume such an attitude toward them that 
deal treacherously, and swalloweth the man that is more 
righteous than he. That system of anarchy "makes men 
as fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no 
ruler over them. He taketh up all of them with the angle, 
he catcheth them in his net, and gathereth them in his 
drag," the anarchistic institutions making game of human- 
ity; and "sacrificeth unto his net, and burneth incense 
unto his drag/' or makes a god of his institution. The 
prophet looks beyond these things (upon the tower) to see 
what Jehovah's answer will be, and it comes. 

Chapter .2. "Write the vision, and make it plain upon 
tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is 
yet for the appointed time, and it panteth (hasteth speed- 
ily) toward the end, and shall not lie: tho it tarry, wait for 
it ; because it will surely come : it will not delay." There 
is a prophetic outline to be fulfilled, and an appointed end 
for anarchy; and when the power of Anarchy shall become 
strong, its end will be comparatively near. That anarch- 
istic power, after spoiling many nations, shall themselves 
be spoiled by all the remnant of the people ; and their glory 
shall be turned into shame. 

Chapter 3. The prayer that closes this prophecy gives 
a view of God's wonderful work, and of His majesty in that 
era of Antichrist and Anarchy. In view of the desirable 

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THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

end to be attained in the salvation of God^s people thru 
those terrible desolations, he closes with the remarkable 
words of patient godly trust expressed in verses 17-19. The 
words, "God came from Teman/' (the South, 3:3), prob- 
ably refer to South America, which at that time will be the 
home of one family of the Jews. 

Zephaniah 

The prophecy of Zephaniah is too general to be under- 
stood without a close study of the preceding prophecies. 

Jehovah "will utterly consume all things from off the 
face of the ground — man and beast, fowls, fishes, Judah, 
Jerusalem, the remnant of Baal, Chemarim, priests, they 
that worship the host of heaven, worshipers who swear to 
Jehovah or swear to Malcham, them that have turned back 
from following Jehovah, them that have not sought Je- 
hovah.^^ 

This utter consumption of all things and a catalog so 
comprehensive would seem to be an edict to depopulate the 
world ; and in a sense that is what it means. The mention 
of the remnant of Baal shows that the prophet is speaking 
of the time when the third form of Antichrist, which is the 
antitype of Baal worship, will have suffered a severe fall. 
The old form of Antichrist under its comprehensive title 
of Egypt is not mentioned. This would make it appear 
that the old Antichrist power in its then existing form will 
have fallen. The era of the great seventy years' war of the 
sixth trumpet is the time that best agrees with the circum- 
stances described in this prophecy. The third form of An- 
tichrist is not called by name ; but the birds and fishes men- 
tioned in the catalog of destruction may be intended figur- 
atively for the anarchistic elements of society ; the birds in 
their flight, to denote their rapid spread; and the fishes, 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

which have no leader, to symbolize the loose state of society 
under anarchy. (See Habakknk 1 : 8, 14.) 

Chapter 1 : 14. "The great day of Jehovah is near^ it 
is near and hasteth greatly/^ The language is striking!}' 
similar to Habaklmk 3:3; but Habakkuk speaks of the ap- 
proaching end of that day, while Zephaniah speaks of its be 
ginning. There is to be "an end, yea, a terrible end, of at 
them that dwell in the land.^^ To save society from th^r 
utter destruction that is denounced against it, a convention 
is called of the "meek of the earth, who have wrought Je- 
hovah^s judgment ;^^ and they are exhorted to "seek rights 
eousness and meekness, and it may be ye shall be hid in th^ 
day of Jehovah^s anger.^' In our previous studies we hav^. 
noticed two prophetic conventions to be held before the 
great desolation of this prophecy, the first in the twenty- 
third year of the fourth trumpet, when the elect shall de- 
part ont of their institution; and the second at the begin- 
ning of the fifth trnmpet, for the purpose of creating a new 
body. But a later convention is here intended ; which wil? 
be held before the great international war shall begin. 

Chapter 3. The rebellious and polluted and corrupting 
city of this chapter is the Jewish institntion, out of which 
the elect Jews shall depart. The corrnpted body of Je^A's 
have seen nations cnt ofl:, and their battlements made c^.on- 
olate, but have not received instruction. They shall ret 
see all the nations and kingdoms assembled (in an iij.or- 
national war) "to pour npon them Mine indignation, /;ven 
all My fierce anger,^^ in the general breaking up of th^v na- 
tions in the sixth trnmpet. After that a "pure langj.age 
will be turned to the peoples.^^ 

The prophet foretells a reformation, and a glorious res- 
toration, in the remnant who "shall not do iniquity nor 
speak lies ;^^ and they shall be "a name and a praise among 
all the peoples of the earth.^^ 

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THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

Haggai 

The Jews believed that the (prophetic) time for build- 
ing Jehovah^s house had not come. The prophet asks 
whether it is a time for them to dwell in ceiled houses while 
Jehovah^s house lieth waste; and attributes their lack of 
prosperity to that neglect. Zerubbabel and Joshua^ the 
governor and high priest, gave heed to Haggai; and they 
Avith the remnant of the people began to work in the house 
of Jehovah. The prophet predicts a great agitation among 
all classes of society (the heavens and the earth, the sea and 
dry land) to be succeeded by the desirable things of all na- 
tions. From the day of the laying of the foundation of 
Jehovah^s house they shall be blessed. The prophet theA 
predicts a general overthrow of the kingdoms of the na- 
tions, after which Zerubbabel will be as a signet to Jehovah. 

Haggai's prophecy points to a time far in the distant 
future ; and is really an outline of the circumstances of the 
Jews of the East in the closing part of the Millennial era, 
and near the time of a great agitation, that shall be fol- 
lowed by the general breaking up of the nations of the East, 
and the destruction of the then existing power of Anti- 
christ and Anarchy. The Jews will afterward gain for 
themselves that distinction in the world which the proph- 
ets predict of them. 

The dates of Haggai are prophetic dates that point to 
Millennial epochs. By allowing the two years of Darius to 
represent a double seventy weeks^ Millennial era, dating 
from the thirtieth Millennial year, (which is the time when 
the old Antichrist power shall end), the followii^g pro- 
phetic dates can be ascertained : 

Chapter 1:1. The second year to the beginning of the 
sixth month, found by adding to 520 (the number of years 
to the close of the first seventy weeks^ era), the five pro- 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

phetic months, or 150 years, equals 670. The first day of 
the sixth month would then answer to the 671st year of the 
Millennial era. The meaning appears to be that up to that 
time the Jews will be content to dwell in their original land 
without making any special effort to build up their city and 
temple, under the impression that the time prophetically 
intended for such a movement has not yet arrived. 

Twenty-three days later (1:15), the building began. 
The twenty-three-year period there indicated will be com- 
pleted in the 694th year of the Millennial era. Twenty- 
seven years after that (2:1), appearances will seem dis- 
couraging. At that point the words of prophecy describe a 
general shaking of all things before the desirable things 
of all nations shall come. 

At that time the systems of the East will begin to totter 
upon their foundations. Twenty-seven years added to the 
preceding date (694), gives the 721st year of the Millennial 
era as the time when that great agitation shall begin. 
Sixty- three years later (2: 18) the foundation will be laid 
for the Jews^ future greatness. That w^ill be the 784th 
year of the Millennial era, and 216 years before its close; 
when the agitations of the East shall reach their climax 
(2: 20-22) ; and sweeping wars and revolutions shall pre- 
pare the way for a general change in all departments of 
society. 

Zechariah 

T'he book of Zechariah furnishes an outline of the cir- 
cumstances of the Jews of the East during the last three 
trumpets and Millennial era. The prophet begins with an 
exhortation to his people to ^^return unto Jehovah and He 
A\'ill return unto you, and be ye not as your fathers to whom 
the former prophets cried,^^ (in the prophetic sense refer- 
ring to the Old Testament prophets and apostles of Christ). 

Ill 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

The prophets they are exhorted to heed will be of the era in 
which they will then be living. 

In his first vision the prophet saw a man riding upon 
a red horse, and behind him were horses red^ sorrel, and 
white, to symbolize a mixed company of people. They 
were among the myrtle-trees, or in the suburbs of Jerusa- 
lem. Their location outside the city typifies the relation 
of that company to the Jewish institution to be that of an 
outside body. ^They walked to and fro thru the earth,^^ 
as missionaries and reformers ^Svhom Jehovah sent.^^ 
"And they answered, . . . and said, ... all the 
earth sitteth still, and is at rest.^^ They seem to be pro- 
ducing no stir. "0 Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou 
not have mercy upon Jerusalem, and on the cities of Judah 
against which Thou hast had indignation these threescore 
and ten years ?'^ The reformers have been laboring for a 
reconstruction; and their efforts appear to meet with lim- 
ited success. "I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies, 
. . . a line shall yet be stretched forth over Jerusalem, 
. . . My cities thru prosperity shall yet be spread abroad.^' 
The apparently unfavorable beginning shall yet be crowned 
with success. The vision of the four horns and four car- 
penters symbolizes the opposition that the reformers must 
overcome. The man with the measuring line typifies the 
beginning of the prosperous era above described. 

Joshua, the high priest, clothed in filthy garments, and 
Satan standing at his right hand to be his adversary, typi- 
fies the calumnious persecutions of the Jews by Antichrist. 
The change of raiment from filthy to clean and princely 
apparel indicates that the Jews will be successfully exoner- 
ated from those defamatory assaults. Joshua and his coad- 
jutors are a wonder, and thru them will be brought forth 
(victoriously) the "BrancV^ of the reformation; "and I 

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will remove the iniquity (opprobrium) of that land in one 
day/^ 

The seven lamps and two olive-trees typify the union of 
the reformed Christian and Jewish institutions. There 
are two olive-trees, and only one bowl to receive the oil of 
them both; and from the bowl proceeds the seven lamps. 
The two olive-trees represent the two reformed bodies of 
Christians and Jews ; and the bowl with which they are con- 
nected stands for the united institution; while the seven 
lamps that proceed from the bowl represent the Church 
in general. This enigma shows that the two bodies will not 
be so incorporated as to lose their identity. The seven 
lamps are ^^the eyes of Jehovah which run to and fro thru 
all the earth.^^ They are the Lord^s missionaries entering 
upon an era of missionary activity. The two olive-trees 
"^^are the anointed ones/^ God^s two chosen institutions, 
"that stand by the Lord of the whole earth/^ the Messiah; 
and are therefore Messianic institutions. 

Chapter 5. Under the Messianic administration will 
go forth the flying roll, or edict, for putting down the vices 
that prevailed under the reign of the false Messiahs. The 
iron Messianic rule will cause the emigration of the Anti- 
christ adherents to the prophetic land of Shinar in the far 
East. 

Chapter 6. The two mountains represent two Anti- 
christ centers. EzekiePs vision makes it appear that one 
will be in Northern Africa, and the other in Western Asia. 
The mountains were mountains of brass, and symbolize 
international institutions. The four chariots that came 
out from between the two mountains ^^are the four spirits 
of heaven (religious types), which go forth from standing 
before the Lord of all the earth^^ (the Messiah), and are 
Messianic sects; and the colors of the horses show that 
8 113 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

there will be quite a diversity of character among them. It 
would seem apparent that the four chariots represent the 
two Antichrist bodies, and two reformed bodies of Jews; 
and signifies that they will all be represented in the far 
East. 

Chapter 6:9-15. Three representatives of the Baby- 
lonish captivity (in the prophetic sense representing three 
Jewish communities) are commanded to make a crown for 
Joshua, who is called the Branch, in Ihe sense of being 
the representative head of that reformed and divinely rec- 
ognized body. "He [the Branch] shall grow up out of His 
place, and He shall build the temple of Jehovah . . . 
and shall sit and rule upon His throne . . . and the 
counsel of peace shall be between them botlf^ (apparently 
both Jews and Christians). The crowns of the three are 
to be "for a memorial in the temple of Jehovah,^^ until the 
time of their princely dominion in the final bringing in 
of the Jews, at the close of the Millennial era. 

Chapter 7. For seventy years the Jews have been ob- 
serving set times for fasting. The answer to the question 
as to whether they should continue to observe those fasts 
is to the effect that such customs are not profitable, be- 
cause it is judgment, kindness, and compassion that Je- 
hovah requireth rather than fasting. Chapter 8 : 3, "I 
am returned unto Zion,^^ the same gracious assurance that 
was given after the earlier reconstruction. There will be 
a prosperous era, and the fasts will become joyous feasts. 

Chapter 9 returns to the era with which the prophecy 
opens, and denounces the pride, covetousness, and oppres- 
siveness of the Protestant powers of that era, and foretells 
their coming desolations. Only a remnant will be re- 
formed, and these will be divided between the Christian 
and Jewish institutions. Then the King (Messiah) shall 
come, and the prisoners will be sent forth out of the pit 

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(of Anarchy). "And I will stir up thy sons, Zion, 
against thy sons, Greece/^ the Church against Anti- 
christ. Chapter 10: 11, "All the depths of the Nile shall 
dry up ; and the .pride of Assyria shall be brought down ; 
and the scepter of Egypt shall depart away.^^ The Anti- 
christ powers shall lose their importance, and the old power 
shall lose its dominion. 

Chapter 11. The figure of the forests which are laid 
waste is paraphrased as the shepherds wailing because their 
glory is laid waste, and the J^oung lions roaring because 
the pride of Jordan is laid waste. Jehovah commands 
(his recognized institution) to "feed the flock of slaughter, 
whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty ; 
and they that sell them say, Blessed be Jehovah, for I 
am rich; and their o^vn shepherds pity them not. For 
I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith Je- 
hovah: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his 
neighbor's hand, and into the hand of his king; and out 
of his hand will I not deliver them.'' An irresistible tide 
of anarchy will set in. "So I fed the flock of slaughter, 
verily the poor of the flock," the most miserable of sheep, 
"and I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, 
and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock." 

The two shepherd staves mean that two flocks are to 
be fed, and typify the ministry to the Protestant and Jew- 
ish institutions. The prophet is explaining a feature of 
the missionary era with which his prophecy begins. "And 
I rut off the three shepherds in one month" (the month 
of Chapter 1:1; there will be twenty-three years of ref- 
ormation, and seven years of discipline). The three shep- 
herds probably include the Protestants and the two families 
of Jews of that era. "Then said I, I will not feed you." 
The Church will cease to minister to those rejected insti- 
tutions. The breaking of the staff Beauty is explained 

115 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

as the breaking of ^^j\Iy covenant which I had made with 
all the peoples ;^^ for Protestantism is a -universal institu- 
tion, and the breaking of their staff symbolizes their re- 
jection. The meaning of the hire of the thirty pieces of 
silver has been shadowed in the treachery of Judas Is- 
cariot; and the prophecy will be fulfilled in the perpetra- 
tion of some treacherous act on the part of the Protestant 
people, after their rejection. 

The breaking of the staff Bands is explained as the 
breaking of the brotherhood of Israel and Judah, so that 
the two families of Jews of that era will become separate 
nations; and the breaking of their staff symbolizes their 
rejection. The instruments of a foolish shepherd, that 
takes the place of Beauty and Bands, symbolizes the rapa- 
cious Antichrist powers under whose dominion both Jews 
and Protestants shall come. ^^The worthless shepherd that 
leaveth the flock^^ represents the heartless leaders of the 
rejected institutions, their own shepherds that pity them 
not. 

Chapter 12 applies to the Jews of the reformation. 
Jerusalem represents the Jews of the West, while Judah 
represents the outside class of the first vision. These are 
said to be in the siege against Jerusalem; but they will 
gain the city, the inhabitants of Jerusalem becoming their 
strength. The Jewish reformation will then become very 
strong, and will be both active and aggressive, "like a pan 
of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire among 
the sheaves; and Jerusalem shall yet again dwell in her 
own place, even in Jerusalem.^^ The ancient city of the 
Jews is here spoken of as a foreigner away from home. 

"Jehovah also shall save the tents of Judah firsf ^ in 
the restoration, "that the glory of the house of David [the 
Jews of the East], and the glory of the inhabitants of Je- 
rusalem [the Jews of the West], be not magnified above 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

Jiidah/^ because of their being an outside body. ^^And I 
will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabit- 
ants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication; 
and they shall look unto Him whom they have pierced/' 
even Jesus of Nazareth, ^^and they shall mourn for Him 
as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitter- 
ness for Him as one is in bitterness for his firstborn,^^ be- 
cause of their long rejection of Him. 

Chapter 13. ^^n that day there shall be a fountain 
opened to the house of David, and to the inhabitants of 
Jerusalem, for sin and for uncleanness,^^ in the provisions 
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Verses 2 to 5, All preter- 
natural pretensions will be put down, whether true or false ; 
and the prophetic spirits will be ruled out of the dominion 
of the Church and sent to the common avocations of life. 
^'1 was Avounded in the house of My friends,^^ for alleged 
false pretensions. "Awake, sword, against My shep- 
herd f' not the worthless shepherd, nor the Antichrist shep- 
herd, but God^s recognized institution for silencing His 
prophets. There will be a severe persecution; "and in 
all the land two parts shall be cut off and die,^^ the per- 
secutors within the Church; %ut the third part shall be 
left therein. And I will bring the third part thru the 
fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try 
them as gold is tried.^^ Their sterling qualities of char- 
acter will be severely tested. "They shall call on My name, 
and I will hear them: I will say. It is My people; and 
they shall say, Jehovah is my God.^^ They who had been 
rejected by their own will be recognized and honored by 
God, even the faithful minority for whose sake the scourge 
of persecution shall be sent. 

The fourteenth chapter of Zechariah describes the cir- 
cumstances of the Jews of the East at the time of the last 
Antichrist uprising, at the close of the Millennial era. 

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THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

^^Thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee/' at the 
time of the general assault. ^^Then shall Jehovah go forth, 
and fight against those nations as when He fought in the 
daj^ of battle^' (of Har-Magedon) . The Mount of Olives 
shall be cleft to the north and south, leaving a very great 
valley; and the valley will be the people's highway of es- 
cape. ^The valley of the mountains shall reach unto 
Azal/*' meaning a naiTow but successful escape. The day 
shall be ^^not day and not night/' but a twilight of vapors 
from the earthquake; ^^but at evening time it shall be 
light/' the vapors clearing away near the close of the day. 

"In that day living waters shall go out from Jerusa- 
lem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them ' 
toward the western sea/' the Pacific and the Atlantic 
Oceans, gospel influences going out to both continents from 
that international center of Christianity. "And Jehovah 
shall be King over all the earth.'' The whole world will 
be subject to a divinely appointed Theocracy. "All the 
land shall be turned as the plain/' the institutions of so- 
ciety being regular and uniform. "And Jerusalem shall 
be lifted up," the Church elevated to a higher plane. The 
feast o£ tabernacles will be observed as an international 
convention, since all the families of the earth are to be 
represented in it. 

The prophetic dates of Zechariah are included within 
four years of the reign of Darius. Like the two years of 
Haggai's prophecy, those four years answer to four seventy- 
weeks' eras. Zechariah's prophecy has within its scope the 
second seventy-years' era of the seven trumpets upon which 
he chiefly dwells, and also the second Millennial seventy- 
weeks' era. 

Chapter 1 : 1. The eighth month of the second year 
(reckoning from the twenty-first year of the fifth trum- 
pet) is a thirty-year period between the eighty-first and 
one hundred and eleventh years of the sixth trumpet. That 

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THE PEOPHETIC BOOKS 

prophetic month is the period of reformation and rejection 
mentioned in chapter 11:8. Verse 7, An interval of 
eighty-four years extends from the close of the month to 
the one hundred and ninetj^-fifth year of the sixth trum- 
pet. That is the close of the seventy-year period men- 
tioned in that clause, and which will therefore begin in the 
one hundred and twenty-fifth year of the sixth trumpet. 
Fourteen years after the prophetic month (111 to 125) a 
new construction will begin in the new body, the ^^Branch.^' 
Chapter 7:1. The fourth year is the fourth seventy- 
weeks^ era, the second of the Millennial era. The fourth 
day of the ninth month would then be the seven hundred 
and ninety-fourth year of the Millennial era. That is the 
close of a seventy-years^ period of reconstruction among the 
Jews of the East. At that time efforts will be put forth 
for the rebuilding of the Jewish temple at Jerusalem, and 
the foundation of the temple will be laid ten years before 
that era of reconstruction shall end. (See Haggai 2: 18.) 

Malachi 

Malachi^s reference to the Jews' defection in forming 
an alliance with Antichrist (2: 11), makes it appear that 
his prophetic viewpoint is the sixth trumpet, which is the 
era of that defection. 

Chapter 1 : 2-5. The Mohammedan powers have been 
desolated, and they are endeavoring to build up again; 
but the prophet foretells for them another desolation. 
Verses 6-14, The Jews are next reproved for offering the 
refuse of the flock, which means a dishonored Church; 
for in regarding their institution with contempt they dis- 
honor Jehovah Himself. 

Chapter 2:1-9. The contempt toward Jehovah's 
service will be returned upon them, and their blessings 
will be turned into curses, their prosperous times into ad- 

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THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

versity. "I will rebuke the seed/* and there shall be 
famine. 

Chapter 2 : 10-13. The Jewish nation recognized God 
the Creator as their Father, and were pledged to serve 
Him and no other. This covenant they have treacher- 
ously broken by "^^marrying the daughter of a strange god/^ 
or forming an alliance with the false Messiah. Verses 
13-16, Another wicked breach is charged against them in 
their treachery toward each other. The ^Vife of thy 
youth/^ or of ^^thy covenant/* is here spoken figuratively 
of the two families of Jews. These should be regarded 
as one nation, having their origin in a godly institution, 
whose purpose was to produce a godly people; but their 
treachery has resulted in a schism. Their perversions are 
further manifested by commending every one that doetli 
evil as being good in the sight of Jehovah. 

Chapter 3:1. The messenger who shall prepare the 
way is Christ^s forerunner, who shall appear a short time 
before his Messianic proclamation. Christ is the Mes- 
senger of the covenant, and His Messianic administration 
will be such as is described in chapter 3 : 2-5. ^^Eeturn 
unto Me, and I will return unto you,** chapter 3 : 7. The 
language is similar to Zech. 1 : 3, and refers to the same 
time, when the Jews shall be called to begin a reformation. 

Chapter 4:1. The day that shall burn as a furnace 
all the proud, and all that work wickedness, and leave 
them neither root nor branch, will be included within the 
full era of Christ's Messianic administration, from the year 
of His Messianic proclamation until all forms of organized 
wickedness shall be destroyed. Verse 13, ^^Behold, I will 
send you Elijah the prophet before the great and terrible 
day of Jehovah come.** The great reformer will be sent 
back to our earth, to prepare the world for a full restora- 
tion. (Mark 9:12.) 

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Prophetic Schedule 

Seven Seals— Eev. 6 : 1—8 : 5. 

Fifth Seal— Isa. ch. 1—3; ch. 5 and 6; Eev. 6: 9-11. 

Sixth Seal— Joel ch. 1 and 2; Eev. 6: 12— 7: 17. 

Seventh Seal— Eev. 8 : 1-5. 

Seven Trumpets — Book of Amos ; Eev. ch. 2 and 3 ; 8 : 6 — 

19:21. 
First Four Trumpets — Ezek. ch. 1 — 9 ; Dan. ch. 7 ; Book 

of Hosea; Eev. 8:7-13. 
Last Three Trumpets— Ezek. ch. 10—39; Eev. 9:1— 

19:21. 
First and Second Trumpets — Joel ch. 3 ; Eev. 8 : 7-9. 
Third Trumpet— Isa. 7: 16— 10: 34; ch. 36 and 37; Ezek. 

4:4, 5; Book of Jonah; Eev. 8:10, 11. 
Fourth Trumpet — Jer. ch. 1 — 24 ; Ezek. 4:6; Micah ch. 

1—3; Eev. 8:12, 13. 
Fifth Trumpet— Amos ch. 7; Micah ch. 5—7; Book of 

Habakkuk; Eev. 9:1-12; ch. 11 and 12. 
Fifth and Sixth Trumpets— Isa. ch. 21—34; Jer. ch. 25 

—52. 
Sixth Trumpet — Isa. ch. 27-34; Book of Zephaniah; Ezek. 

ch. 24—34; Zech. ch. 1 and 2; ch. 11—13; Eev. 9 : 13 

—10:11. 
Sixth and Seventh Trumpets — Eev. ch. 13 — 19; Isa. ch. 

33 and 34. 
Fourth Trumpet to Millennial Era — Isa. ch. 11 — 66. 
Seventh Trumpet — Malachi ch. 4; Eev. 11: 15-19. 
Millennial Era — Isa. ch. 35; Book of Haggai; Zech. ch. 

2—8 ; Eev. ch. 20. 
Post-Millennial Era— Ezek. ch. 38 and 39; Book of Oba- 

diah; Book of Nahum; Zech. ch. 14. 
Last Days— Isa. 2:1-4; Micah 4:1-3; Eev. ch. 21 and 22. 

Note. — The above schedule contains only the selections 
that are the most easily classified. 

131 



CHAPTER VI 

Prophetic Eras 

The plan of the Age includes four great cycles of 
twenty-three centuries each^ including three full cycles 
and two partial cycles^ one at the beginning and the other 
at the end of the Age^ which together are equal to one 
full cj^cle. Within each great cycle is a smaller cycle of 
1^260 years. There are two classes of smaller cycles in 
the plan of the Age^ of 550 and 490 years respectively^, 
which are somewhat irregular in their distribution. There 
is also a subdivision of the plan into a great many smaller 
eras of various lengths. A four-hundred-year era has prob- 
ably occurred four times, and will occur three times more. 
A three-hundred-and-ninety-year era is closely related to 
it, and occurs several times. Several smaller eras are of 
frequent occurrence, as the forty-year period, the seventy- 
year period, the twenty-three-year period, the thirty-year 
period, and the seven-year period. 

The general meaning of the various cycles is substan- 
tially the same wherever they occur. The seventy-year 
period introduces a Messianic era. It is also an era 
of construction, or reconstruction; the organizing and 
building up of an institution. The cycle of seventy sevens 
is a Messianic era of a Messianic power, whether true 
or false. The five hundred and fifty year cycle is an era 
of free government, or of anarchy. The twenty-three- 
year period is an era of reformation, and usually, if not 

123 



PEOPHETIC ERAS 

invariably, precedes a seventy-year era. The thirty-year 
period is usually noted for war, and represents a time of 
effort on the part of one conflicting power to crush an- 
other. The thirty-year period sometimes appears to be a 
twenty-three-year period, with an added seven. In that 
case it would mean a Messianic agitation^ followed by a 
reformation along Messianic lines. The forty-year period 
is a transition period, being the limit of time allowed 
for a generation of adults (Xum. 44:33). It represents 
the time required for the existing generation of adults to 
pass away, while the rising generation are preparing to 
carry out a purpose for which their seniors are not adapted. 
A forty-year period was required to prepare the rising gen- 
eration of the children of Israel for deliverance from Egypt, 
and a second forty-year period was necessary to prepare 
the succeeding generation for the conquest of Canaan. A 
triple forty-year period of one himdred and twenty years 
sometimes occurs, and means an important transition. The 
one-hundred-and-twenty-year period before the flood of 
N"oah furnishes an instance. 

The 1,260-day cj'cles are Satanic eras, in which the 
Satanic powers strive to assert themselves; hence they are 
eras of conflict between the two opposing powers of good 
and evil. The first 1,260-day cycle began when men began 
to call themselves by the name of Jehovah. (See margin.) 
That was blasphemy, and grew out of Satan^s false idea 
of godliness, when he said, as a plea for renouncing law, 
^^Ye shall be as gods.^^ The second Satanic cycle began 
the year succeeding Joshua^s deaths when the war of ex- 
termination that was to check the gro^i:h of idolatry was 
suspended. That form of Satanic wickedness then took 
root and grew until it reached its climax in the profana- 
tion of x4Lntiochus the Grecian; which was an effort to 
crush the worship of Jehovah altogether. The third Sa- 

133 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

tanic cycle began with the introduction of the doctrine of 
purgatory, which was followed later by the introduction 
of masses for the dead. That was the beginning of the 
form of idolatry called Antichrist. In the fourth and last 
1,260-day cycle the rise of Antichrist will culminate in 
the universal recognition of an Antichrist Messiah. 

The four twenty-three-century cycles are eras of four 
successive dispensations. They are eras of reformation 
upon a grand scale (Heb. 9:10). The first full cycle 
was the era of the Jewish dispensation, the second full 
cycle is the present era of the Christian dispensation, and 
the third full cycle will be the era of the Messianic dis- 
pensation. The two partial cycles are eras of the Theo- 
cratic dispensation; the first being the era of Satan^s 
usurpation, and the second being the era of the true The- 
ocracy. The full plan of the age in the perfect man, the 
fall and the restoration, is epitomized in the two partial 
cycles. It shows what were the possibilities of the race 
had not man conspired with Satan to oppose and destroy 
the works of God. The first partial cycle was honored by 
the translation of Enoch; the first full cj^cle was honored 
by the translation of Elijah; the second full cycle was hon- 
ored by the resurrection and ascension of the Lord's 
Christ; the third full cycle will be honored by the reani- 
mation and ascension of the Lord^s two faithful witnesses ; 
and the second partial cycle will be honored by the resur- 
rection and ascension of the Lord's saints. 

There is also a seven-day plan of the age; and the 
midst of the world's week was reached at the time of the 
Lord's crucifixion, when by His own perfect offering He 
caused the Jewish sacrifice and oblation to cease. That 
was A. M. 4032 J; but it does not coincide with the plan 
of the four great cycles; for if the age on the seven-day 
plan dated from the beginning of the first partial cycle, 

124 



PEOPHETIC EEAS 

the full age would be equal to 8,067 years, which lacks 
1,133 years of the ninety-two centuries included in the 
four great cycles. The world^s week must therefore date 
1,133 years back of the creation of Adam, or B. C. 5137. 

The Christian era from its beginning to the end of 
the age is outlined by John in the seven seals, the seven 
trumpets, the Millennial era, the last era of Satan, and 
the Sabbatic era. The first seal is the Apostolic era. The 
second, third, and fourth seals are progressive eras of 
spiritual degeneracy. The fifth seal is the era of the 
Protestant Eeformation. The sixth seal will be noted 
for a great Antichrist uprising, followed later by a period 
of world-wide evangelism. The seventh seal is an epoch 
that will usher in the era of the seven trumpets. The 
seven trumpets are eras of seven Antichrist Messiahs. The 
Millennial era will be a thousand years of the reign of 
Christ. The little season of Satan will be a short era of 
Antichrist after the Millennial era. The Sabbatic era will 
complete the partial great cycle and end the age. 

Several important circumstances are prophetically shad- 
owed in the Bible. Genesis 3 : 14 contains the first pro- 
phetic revelation. The bruising of the serpent's head re- 
fers to the circumstance mentioned in Eevelation 13:3, 
and will not be fulfilled for over seven thousand years 
from the time of the prediction. The degradation of Sa- 
tan is also a far-reaching prophecy that looks forward to 
a future age. The horror of great darkness that fell upon 
Abraham typified the dark age that should fall upon his 
posterity, and refers to an era that is yet to come. The 
seven-days' taking of Jericho will have its prophetic anti- 
type in the great overthrow of Antichrist near the close of 
the seven trumpets. The Prophet Jonah in his three-days' 
burial in the sea, while in the belly of a fish, furnished a 
sign illustrating the circumstances of a non-political Chris- 

125 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

tian institution, which shall be in danger of being absorbed 
by the second form of Antichrist during the second, third, 
and fourth trumpets. The three days of Christ's betrayal, 
suffering, and death is a sign which foreshadows the cir- 
cumstances of the Messianic Christian institution of the 
last three trumpets, which shall be a power among the 
powers of the world, and opposed by the combined powers 
of Antichrist while schooling the nations to true Messi- 
anic ideas. The three and a half years^ dearth under the 
reign of Ahab typifies the protracted spiritual dearth of 
the first four trumpets. The twenty-one years' conflict 
mentioned by Daniel, and placed by John in the begin- 
ning of the fifth trumpet, is so closely connected with the 
circumstances of the fourth trumpet that the two periods 
are in a sense to be reckoned as one. For that reason the 
fourth trumpet is the half-year of that spiritual dearth. 

Prophetic Chronological Table 

The first partial 2,300-day cycle extends B. C. 4004- 
2468. From the creation of Adam to the first 1,260-day 
cycle, 276 years. The first 1,260-day cycle from the forty- 
first year of Enos to 120 years before the flood of Noah, 
B. C. 3728-2468. The age of Enoch the godly man, 365 
years, B. C. 3382-3017. From Enoch's translation to the 
end of the first partial 2,300-day cycle, 549 years. 

The first full 2,300-day c3Tle began 120 years before the 
flood, and ended at the profanation of Antiochus, B. C. 
2468-168. The second 1,260-day cycle extends from the 
year succeeding Joshua's death to the profanation of Anti- 
ochus, B. C. 1428-168. The 120-year period before the 
flood, B. C. 2468-2348. From the flood of Noah to the 
call of Abraham, 427 years. [Abraham called, B. C. 1921. 
Sodom destroyed, B. C. 1897.] From Abraham's call until 
Moses visited his brethren, 390 years, B. C. 1921-1531. 
Forty years to the exodus from Egypt ended, B. C. 1491. 
Forty years in the wilderness ended, B. C. 1451. From 
the year succeeding Joshua's death to the coronation of 

12Q 



PEOPHETIC EEAS 

Saul, 333 years. From the coronation of Saul to David^s 
reign, 40 years, B. C. 1095-1055. From the beginning of 
David^s reign to Jeroboam^s reign^ 80 years, B. C. 1055- 
975. From the defection of Jeroboam to the siege of Jeru- 
salem, 390 years, B. C. 975-585. The seventy years' cap- 
tivity of the Jews, from the fourth year of Jehoiakim to 
the edict of Cyrus, B. C. 606-536. Interval to the Syrian 
oppression, 338 years. Thirty years^ oppression under 
Syria, B. C. 198-168. 

The second full 2,300-day cycle began at the profana- 
tion of Antiochus, and will end at the setting up of the 
abomination of desolation, B. C. 168 to A. D. 2132. The 
third 1,260-day cycle extends from the end of the Apostolic 
era to the end of the thirty years^ war of Europe, A. D. 
388-1648. Jesus the Christ was born four years before the 
year 1 A. D. Period of Christ's ministry, three and a 
half years, A. D. 26-30. From the close of the Lord's 
ministry to the taking of Jerusalem, 40 years, A. D. 30-70. 
The first seal, the Apostolic era, the first 388 years of the 
Christian era. The second seal, 346 years, from the in- 
troduction of the doctrine of purgatory to the introduc- 
tion of masses for the dead, A. D. 388-734. The third 
seal, 400 years, from the introduction of masses for the 
dead to the protest of Arnold of Brescia, A. D. 734-1134. 
(Controversy on the use of images, 120 years, A. D. 722- 
742.) The fourth seal, 514 years, from the protest of 
Arnold to the close of the thirty years^ war of Europe, 
A. D. 1134-1648. (The St. Bartholomew massacre, A. D. 
1572.) The fifth seal, 484 years, from the thirty years' 
war of Europe to the future rise of the Papal power, 
A. D. 1648-2132. The sixth seal, 168 years, from the 
rise of the Papal power to the silent half hour, A. D. 2132- 
2300. The seventh seal, the silent half hour, A. D. 2301. 

The third full 2,300-day cycle will extend from the 
future rise of the Papal power until forty years after the 
Millennial era, A. D. 2132-4432. The fourth 1,260-day 
•cycle will extend from the future rise of the Papal power 
to the beginning of the Millennial era, A. D. 2132-3392. 
The second partial 2,300-day cycle will extend from the 
forty years' post-Millennial era to the close of the Sabbatic 
era, A. D. 4432-5196. 

127 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

The first trumpet^ the era of the Lion Messiah, 40 
years, from the seventh seal to the era of the Bear Mes- 
siah, A. D. 2301-2341. The second trumpet, 80 years, 
from the close of the first trumpet to the era of the Leop- 
ard Messiah and AYormwood Star, A. D. 2341-2421. The 
third trumpet, 390 years, from the close of the second 
trumpet to the era of the Iron Messiah, A. D. 2421-2811. 
The fourth trumpet, 40 years, from the close of the third 
trumpet to the rise of Anarchy, and era of the Dragon 
Messiah, A. D. 2811-2851. The fifth trumpet, 150 years, 
from the close of the fourth trumpet to the era of the 
Blasphemous Messiah, A. D. 2851-3001. The sixth trum- 
pet, 360 years, from the close of the fifth trumpet to the 
era of the rival Messiahs, A. D. 3001-3361. The Messi- 
anic year, A. D. 3362. The seventh trumpet, 30 years, 
from the Messianic year to the Millennial era, A. D. 3362- 
3392. The Millennial era., 1,000 years, from the close of 
the seventh trumpet to the era of Satan^s last rise, A. D. 
3392-4392. The era of Satan^s last rise, 40 years, from 
the close of the Millennial era to the beginning of the Sab- 
batic era, A. D. 4392-4432. The Sabbatic era, 764 years, 
from the close of Satan's last era to the end of the age, 
A. D. 4432-5196. 

The first Millennial epoch mentioned by Daniel will 
occur in the thirtieth 5^ear of the Millennial era, A. D. 
3422. The second Millennial epoch vt^-ill occur in the sev- 
enty-fifth year of the Millennial era, A. D. 3467. The 
twenty-one years' controversy mentioned by Daniel and 
John (Dan. 10:13; Rev. 12:1-9) will occupy the first 
twenty-one years of the fifth trumpet, A. D. 2851-2872. 
An important seventy weeks' era will succeed it; and the 
first seven weeks or forty-nine years added to the twenty- 
one-year period completes a seventy years' era, A. D. 2851- 
2921. The seventy weeks' era extends from the close of 
the Great Controversy to the Messianic year, A. D. 2872- 
3362. The number of the Beast is 666 years from the 
origin of the power of Anarch}^, or 616 years from its rise 
at the beginning of the fifth trumpet, to the second Mil- 
lennial epoch, A. D. 2851-3467. 



128 



CHAPTER VII 

The Signs of the Times 

WHE>;r the Jews required of the Lord a sign from 
heaven^ He rebuked them for not being able to discern the 
time in which they were living. At that time prophecy 
pointed to the coming of the Christ. The Jews had re- 
turned to their country at the end of the seventy years pre- 
dicted by Jeremiah; and the seventy weeks of years of 
DaniePs prophecy was nearing its fulfillment, and they 
were expecting the Christ to appear at any time. 

The vision and prediction of Zachariah the priest, and 
later the preaching and prophecy of John the Baptist, 
were in line with the inspired prophecies of Scripture that 
foretold the coming of Christ. But when John pointed 
to Jesus of JSTazareth as the one he had been proclaiming, 
the one mightier than himself, who should come after him, 
only a few were willing to accept his testimony. The Naza- 
rene was not the august and kingly personage the higher 
classes desired to see; and the testimony of John and his 
own wonderful works gained for him only a few humble 
followers. 

Let us now take a view of the signs of our own times. 

Can we read them ? The prophetic outline of the age has 

been fulfilled to a certain point: What is the prophetic 

era to which we have now arrived? what are the ap- 

9 139 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

proaching prophetic circumstances now ahead? and what 
are the signs of the times pointing to the future fulfill- 
ment of prophecy? 

The four world powers of Nelmchadnezzar^s dream 
have been fulfilled^ and likewise the first four seals of 
John's prophecj^;, including a bloody and protracted per- 
secution; and the souls of the martyrs are to-day under 
the altar^ crying^ ^^How long ... T^ The twenty- 
three-century cycle that dates from the profanation of 
Antiochus will be fulfilled in the year A. D. 2132, which 
will be 232 years from the close of the nineteenth century 
A. D. That will be tlie beginning of the sixth seal, and 
a reign of terror will then begin. 

We now wish to call attention to those two world powers 
that should rise before the circumstance shall take place 
that shall usher in that reign of terror. The prophecy 
referred to is .ontained in DanieFs second vision. 

A kingdom of two dominions is to come into collision 
with a kingdom of one dominion, and be defeated. The 
victorious government will then become the leading power 
of Christendom, and afterward a revolution will take place, 
and the nation will be broken up and divided into four 
distinct governments. 

We must look for the antitype in that which agrees 
with the type. Great Britain is one of the leading powers 
of Christendom, and, like Medo-Persia, it is a kingdom of 
two dominions, known as the United Kingdom of Great 
Britain and Ireland. The English Government controls 
large areas of territory in North America, in India, in 
South Africa, and in Australia, besides other smaller tracts 
of land. To meet the conditions of prophecy the govern- 
ment of one dominion must be west of the government of 
two dominions, and must be one of the leading powers 
of Christendom. 

130 



THE sig:n^s of the times 

The United States of America is the leading govern- 
ment of America and seems destined to become one of the 
leading powers of the world. Each State has a govern- 
ment of its own, but they are united under one Federal 
head. The United States of America controls an area of 
more than three and a half millions of square miles, be- 
sides the islands that have come under their control. 
There is a great diversitj^ of soil and climate; and the re- 
sources of the country, we must believe, will yet greatly sur- 
pass their past development. The history of the I^ation, 
from the Declaration of Independence to the present time, 
is but a revelation of its growing greatness. 

No other nation seems so likely in course of time to 
become a rival of England. There are reasons, too, why 
a rupture between those two nations might bring on war. 
Nations do not soon forget their difficulties. History 
writes them, and the succeeding generations read them. 
Their past difficulties tend to prejudice England against 
America, and every American boy seems to have born in 
him the desire to see his country^s past WTongs visited 
upon England. 

At the time of the prophetic collision the ram of Persia 
was pushing northward and westward and southward. The 
United States of America are unfavorable to European do- 
minion in America, and the cause of the trouble may be 
in the pushing westward or effort to acquire dominion in 
America. The goat of Greece was moved with choler, and 
went against the other, and touched not the ground (a 
fleet sailing over the sea), and brake his two horns, or 
gained a complete ^dctory. So Greece rose in power, and 
was afterward divided into four governments. 

Again, there is in the Government of the United States 
an element of weakness, growing out of the doctrine of 
States' rights. This weak point had its origin in the jeal- 

131 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

ousy of a liberty-loving people over their rights, and the 
fears they entertained of despotic encroachments, should 
too much power be vested in the General Government 
When the Constitution of the United States of America 
was framed a compromise had to be made between two 
parties, one of which desired a concentration of power in 
the General Government, and the other desiring the great- 
est possible liberty of the individual States. The right of 
secession, or withdrawal from the Union, has been claimed 
at different times, and the question was settled by force of 
arms in the Civil War of 1861-65. The unity of the Gov- 
ernment was sustained, but the doctrine of States^ rights 
still remains. The large area of country and the conflict- 
ing interests of the different sections of country also favor 
the probability of a change of government at some future 
time. 

It seems apparent that the power of England is to be 
broken to prepare the way for Antichrist, and the Govern- 
ment of the United States is to be divided to limit Anti- 
christ's dominion. The present indications point to the 
United States of America as a suitable place for Antichrist 
to have his future seat of power. For a long time there 
has been a great influx into America of the very worst 
classes of Europe, and it can not well be prevented with- 
out doing them injustice. It can not be prevented; for 
God is sending them here. It is the riddance of Europe 
of that class of society which Antichrist shall need for 
building up his kingdom. 

We have not yet fully arrived at the time bordering 
upon the great tribulation and described by the Prophet 
Isaiah: we are yet more than two centuries off from the 
beginning of that time. But the general prevalence of 
worldliness in the Church, and of corruption and oppres- 
sion under the governments among all nations and coun- 

132 



THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES 

tries, fully justifies our expectation of such a state of af- 
fairs as the prophet describes. 

The prophecy referred to is contained in the fifth 
chapter of Isaiah. The vineyard planted in a fruitful soil 
is the free government and leading American institution 
constituted in the United States of America. The Hebre^\' 
term for that fruitful vineyard is ^'a horn^ the son of oil/' 
That is the American Government^ anointed of God; and 
His Churchy the Protestant institution. The hedge of Di- 
vine Providence has preserved the Nation thru all its perils^ 
and under its Government the oppressed and persecuted 
have found refuge. The country gave good promise; but 
the wild grapes are already beginning to bud. The monop- 
oly, corruption^ and drunkenness described in the catalog 
of woes are even now beginning to threaten society. Two 
hundred and thirty-two years from the nineteenth century 
yet remain for the culmination of corruptions and for the 
gathering of material for the terrible woe that shall end 
them. 

Some time within the present era of the fifth seal ^^He 
will lift up an ensign to the nations from far^ and will 
hiss for them from the end of the earth ;'^ which may be 
interpreted in some movement on the part of the Eoman 
Catholics to strengthen their institution in this country. 
^^And behold, they shall come with speed swiftly/^ to set 
up the reign of Antichrist in America. That will be after 
the revolution that shall divide the Government. An Anti- 
christ party will rise that Daniel describes as a little horn 
that shall come forth out of one of the four horns, or di- 
visions of the Government, and shall ^Vax exceeding great 
toward the south and toward the east and toward the pleas- 
ant land.^^ It will be a politico-ecclesiastical party that 
shall get control of the Government and take the law into 
their own hands. 

133 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

The era of the false Messiahs is another prophetic fea- 
ture whose outlook can be seen in the claims to Messianic 
prerogatives that are held by the Papal power and have 
been so. held ever since the Papacy was created. There 
will be no Messianic king until the first trumpet, which 
will probably be the earliest opportunity for such a step; 
but the numerical strength of the Eoman Catholics is so 
great that a succession of Antichrist kings, claiming, and, 
as far as possible, exercising Messianic authority, can be 
seen to be one of the probabilities of the future. 

The anarchistic element that prevails in Europe is an- 
other cloud on the world's horizon which is prophetic of 
the future rise of Anarchy, altho the anarchy of to-day is 
like the cloud Elijah saw. But it will come to America 
at length, and will flourish on American soil; for the power 
of Anarchy will be a distinctively American institution. 

The signs of the times are prophetic of Antichrist's 
coming; but the prophetic outlook is equally good for bet- 
ter days ahead. The practicability of preaching the gos- 
j)el to every nation in the world before the reign of terror 
shall begin is even now apparent. The Lord did not say 
that the nations should be fully evangelized, but that the 
gospel should be preached to them for a witness. Many 
men and women are offering themselves as missionaries of 
the gospel and are ready to face the hardships and perils 
that attend the effort to carry the gospel to the heathen. 
It is thought by some that all the world may be reached 
by the end of the twentieth century. May the Church in- 
deed accomplish that important feature of her work in 
time to prepare for the coming tribulation ! 

The restoration of an institution of the apostolic type 
is another prophetic outlook which finds expression in the 
great desire of the Church of to-day for such a consumma- 
tion. Isaiah prophesied of a reformation that shall take 

134 



THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES 

place in tliis present gospel era, which can be seen pros- 
pectively in some of the religious movements of the pres- 
ent time thru such as have their" all upon the altar, and 
whose lips have touched the fire. The answer to the ques- 
tion, ^'^How long?'^ shows that the good work will con- 
tinue to the end of the great tribulation, or until the 
worldly and corrupt elements of the Church shall be elimi- 
nated. (See Isaiah, chapter 6.) A strong-souled body of 
people, free from the corruptions and prejudices and the- 
ological trammels of Protestantism, will afterward form a 
new institution; and that will be the beginning of a new 
era of the Church. 

A new era of prophecy to settle the many problems that 
have come and are still coming before the world with ref- 
erence to the human race, and which only divinely-inspired 
men can answer, is one of the 'things devoutly wished for, 
even by persons who dare not hope that such a thing shall 
be. The Old Testament prophets revealed the things that 
pertain to the Antichrist, and the prophets of the future 
will reveal the things that pertain to the True Messiah. 
There are people in the world today whose spiritual recep- 
tivity is very great, and who are beginning to grasp the 
meaning of the mysteries of God^s Word. Four centuries 
more of training and teaching in God's school of discipline 
and experience will prepare the Church for an era of true^ 
Messianic authorities inspired of God, who shall be able to 
speak as the oracles of God in those days of Satanic author- 
ity and deception which are included in the era of the false 
Messiahs. 

The factional breaking up of the Antichrist institution, 
and the unity of the Church, from the very nature of 
things, belong to the probabilities of the future. Error is 
many-sided and tends to produce factions, while truth in 
its purity has no variations. When the masses of people 

135 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

shall become well educated the world over, the Eoman 
Catholic people will no longer yield the blind obedience to 
their institution that has always been required of them. 
With all the rigidity with which those people have been 
held down by their priests there has been an occasional 
schism in times past; and when their errors shall be prac- 
tically applied to the problems of the age, and fail, they 
will have recourse to new forms of error^ just as prophecy 
shows that they will do. While the errors of Antichrist 
are being tested, the people of God will be coming more 
nearly to the correct knowledge of the truth; and when 
they shall be able to fully apprehend the truth, the unity 
of the Church will be assured. 

The probability of a future international or Messianic 
government can be seen in the increasing facilities for 
travel and commerce, in tlue cosmopolitan character that 
those changes are gradually producing^ and in the inter- 
national tendencies that are gradually developing among 
the nations of the world. It will take many centuries to 
bring about those marvelous changes that prophecy de- 
scribes, but the world is progressing toward them. There 
is really nothing discouraging in the signs of the times, 
when they are properly understood. The world is progress- 
ing according to the laws of spiritual beings, and its affairs 
are guided and governed by the omnipotent hand of God. 



136 



CHAPTEE VIII 

General View of Antichrist 

In John^s description of the final revelation of Anti- 
christ, the Dragon, or fallen Star, was succeeded by the 
Beast, and it illustrates the plan and gronndwoxk of Satan, 
wherever he sets np his dominion. He begins by aping 
what is good and true and spiritual: that is the Dragon. 
The Beast represents outspoken and undisguised wicked- 
ness and opposition to what is right, and always succeeds 
the Dragon. 

That law of spiritual degeneracy first began to be re- 
vealed in the antediluvian era. AVhen God placed man 
in the world He gave him dominion over all the works of 
His hands, and all the stores of earth were given to sus- 
tain him. After the first transgression man^s dominion 
was not taken away, altho there was a change in his phys- 
ical condition. The long lives of the antediluvians be- 
tokened health and strength. The climate of Western Asia, 
where the race began, was mild. There were no diseases 
nor epidemics among men, and they had every possible ad- 
vantage favorable to their progress. 

The degeneracy of the race began in running after the 
desires of their eyes. The sons of God saw the daughters 
of men that they were fair, and they took them wives of 
all which they chose. They were men of renown, who 

137 



THE HISTORIC MEANIXG OF PEOPHECY 

probably took many wives to build up strong and numer- 
ous households, that they might sustain the dominion of 
the world. That was the Dragon's delusion, and was 
succeeded by the undisguised wickedness of the Beast. 
^The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was 
filled with violence.'' The race became unreclaimablc. 
Only one family retained their integrity; and in order to 
preserve to the world the righteousness they represented, 
the rest of the race were destroyed. 

That era of wickedness was Satan's first dominion in 
the world, and we there find the spirit of Antichrist. All 
wickedness is anti-Christian; but the Antichrist both emu- 
lates and opposes the Christ, and could not be fully re- 
vealed until the Christ should come. The kingdom of 
Satan began to develop first in the temporrJ dominion of 
man. In the antediluvian era there was neither a general 
government nor an organized Church. The family was 
the only existing social institution for Satan to invade, and 
in that era of primitive simplicity carnal nature ran after 
the desires of the eyes, and then broke out into open vio- 
lence. 

After the world became peopled anew, and the world's 
resources began to develop, there began to be a revelation 
of man's disposition toward pride and luxury. Canaan 
was noted for its fertility, and the place Lot chose was well 
favored in temporal advantages; but the event of the visit 
of the two angels to Sodom revealed a terrible depth of 
wickedness, consequent from pride and wantonness. The 
Beast had followed the Dragon, just as he has since done 
in many a thrifty town, where the ball and theater and 
other fashionable gatherings of vanity and pleasure have 
been succeeded by the saloon, the gambling-house, and 
other dens of wickedness, until, like Sodom, it would not 
be safe to lodge at night in the street. When the people 

138 



GENERAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

of God mingle among such society they endanger their 
cause; but when the Church patronizes such vanities their 
cause is gone. 

The Dragon^s next step was in the perversion of wor- 
ship. The meaning of true worship was lost^ and idolatrous 
rites were introduced. Whatever men desired or loved 
or feared was personified and worshiped. Monstrous 
systems of polytheism were invented; but the idea of 
sacrifice that prevailed in all forms of idolatrous worship 
shows that there must have been a perversion of the true 
idea of worship, as worship w^as then known. An ap- 
parently harmless innovation would in time degenerate 
into outbreaking wickedness, as this is known to be true 
of the world's later forms of idolatry. Whatever idolatry 
was in its beginning, its later revelation showed it to be 
a system of devil worship, and human sacrifices were 
offered and the most diabolical rites were practiced. As 
before, the Dragon prepared the way for the Beast. 

As tribes grew into nations, tribal government gave 
place to general government. The institution of the State 
was designed for the protection of human rights and for 
the promotion of the public welfare of mankind. But the 
governments of the world took the form of absolute mon- 
archies; and the absolute monarch is almost invariably a 
tyrant. The governments became oppressive, and war fol- 
lowed, until the world in general became a great battle- 
ground. The perversion of government bore the Satanic 
stamp as truly as did the perversion of worship. 

The Jewish institution gave to the world a higher rev- 
elation of law and worship, and was the next for Satan 
to invade. Solomon^s compromise with his heathen wives 
in the matter of worship was an innovation that reached 
its climax in the time of Manasseh^s reign, when he filled 
Jerusalem with innocent blood which the Lord would not 

139 



THE HISTOEIC MEAXIIs^G OF PROPHECY 

pardon; and the residue of the nation were sent into cap- 
tivity after the ten tribes. 

The restoration of the Jewish polity saved the truth 
from obliteration^ until a reformation should be accom- 
plished thru the Prophet who was to come after Moses. 
That Prophet was the son of God, to whom Satan appeared 
in the character of the Dragon, and offered Him the Mes- 
sianic throne if He would fall down and worship him, 
and acknowledge him as the workVs vicegerent. 

It seemed apparent that if Satan could either subvert 
the Son of God or kill Him, he could take both the law 
and the gospel into his own hands. He accomplished the 
Lord^s assassination thru the instrumentality of the traitor 
Judas, the Jewish leaders, and the Eoman authorities. It 
was the hour of the Beast, God's chosen nation uniting with 
the powers of the world to put down the cause of truth. 
That was the crowning event of Satan's kingdom under the 
Jewish regime, and just as the Christian dispensation was 
beginning to dawn. The Antichrist was near at hand. 

The Apostle John is the only Bible writer who makes 
use of the term Antichrist; but it is evident that the 
Prophet Daniel, and the Apostles Paul and Peter and 
Jude describe the same form of spiritual wickedness. John 
testified that there were many Antichrists in his day ; and 
mentions it as evidence that they had already entered upon 
that era when Antichrist should appear; yet he makes a 
distinction between those corrupt teachers of his day and 
the Antichrist that should come. When Paul gave his 
parting charge to the elders of the Church of Ephesus, he 
said, ^Tor I know this: that after my departing shall 
grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse 
things to draw away disciples after them.^^ The corrupt 
teachers or Antichrists of the apostles^ times would be fol- 

140 



GENEEAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

lowed later by others of a similar stamp; and under the 
latter would Antichrist take form. John was speaking 
of the origin of Antichrist, and Paul of its later develop- 
ment. This makes it appear that Antichrist is an eccle- 
siastical power having its origin in corrupted Christianity. 

Paul saw that in his day the mystery of lawlessness 
was already beginning to work ; and the past development 
of that mystery belongs to the first four seals. The apos- 
tasy was too gradual to cause any alarm ; for it was a proc- 
ess of many centuries. The gradual evolution of that form 
of spiritual wickedness, and the souls of the martyrs of 
Jesus under the altar crying for vengeance in John^s 
revelation of the origin of Antichrist, has already been 
fulfilled. 

The revelation of the man of sin belongs to an era 
that is yet to come; but Paul's description of that form 
of spiritual wickedness is so well drawn as to be readily 
recognized in the Papacy, that had its origin in the de- 
cline of primitive Christianity. The Dragon invaded the 
apostolic institutions, and was followed later by the Beast. 
The Inquisition, the prison, the rack, the burning — these 
and many other horrors — belong to that era of Antichrist. 
It was a long, dark night ; and when the light of the Eef- 
ormation began to dawn, the power of Antichrist sought 
to crush out the truth at a single blow. The dark plot was 
laid, and its center was Paris. The time was St. Barthol- 
omew's night, A. D. 1572. Seventy thousand Christians 
perished; and had the wicked plot been fully carried out, 
many more would have been killed. The thirty years' war 
of Europe, A. D. 1618 to 1648, was the outcome of that 
massacre ; and from that time and on the dominion of the 
Beast went down. 

It has been shown that the full era of Antichrist is 
to be included within two twenty-three-century cycles, the 

141 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

first being the era of Antichrists rise, and the second being 
the era of his revelation. In a general sense, it will in- 
clude the two eras of the Christian and the Messianic dis- 
pensations. The Christian cycle will end and the Mes- 
sianic cycle will begin A. D. 2132. At that time the powers 
of Anticlirist will make their first effort to set up Mes- 
sianic dominion. The rise of Antichrist was progressive, 
and took 1,2G0 years; and the revelation of Antichrist 
will likewise be progressive, and will require a second 
1,260 years^ era, from the above named date. For a 
description of the beginning of Antichrist's revelation read 
Isa. 5:26-30; 6:9—7:9; Dan. 8:9-12; Joel 1 and 2; 
Matt. 2^:15-22; Mark 13:14-20, and Eev. 6:12-17. 

The abomination of desolation that shall be set up at 
the beginning of the sixth seal, shall continue, according 
to the words of Isaiah, "until cities shall be waste without 
inhabitant, and houses without man, and the land become 
utterly waste, and Jehovah have removed men far away, 
and the forsaken places be many in the midst of the land.'' 
Joel speaks of three successive Antichrist scourges, which 
he figuratively describes as locusts, cankerworms, and cater- 
pillars, coming in successive swarms to destroy the land. 
The desolations he describes are to continue until every 
trace of prosperity shall disappear. "^^The fire hath de- 
voured the pastures of the wilderness, and the flame hath 
burned all the trees of the field." 

Joel describes that Antichrist power as "a great people 
and a strong; there hath not been ever the like, neither 
shall be any more after them, even to the years of many 
generations. A fire devoureth before them, and behind 
them a flame burneth : the land is as the garden of Eden 
before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, yea, 
and none hath escaped them. ... At their presence the 
people are in anguish: all faces are waxed pale. . . . 

143 



GEXEEAL VIEW OF AXTICHRIST 

They leap upon the city; they run upon the wall; they 
climb into the houses; they enter in at the windows like 
a thief. The earth quaketh before them; the heavens 
tremble; the sun and the moon are darkened^ and the 
stars withdraw their shining/^ The law and the gospel 
will be suspended ; and the leading men of the Church and 
State will be overpowered. '^And Jehovah hath uttered 
his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; 
for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of 
Jehovah is great and very terrible ; and who can abide it T^ 
JoeFs mention of Antichrist's forces as Jehovah's camp 
explains that God is sending them, according to the words 
of Isaiah. 

That tribulation is to begin with the setting up of 
the abomination of desolation; and we turn to the words 
of Daniel of the clause before cited, to ascertain what it 
means. "\i magnified itself even to the prince of the 
host.'' jSTow the eucharist, or sacrament, is called the host 
by Eoman Catholics. The prince of the host is Christ 
Himself; and to magnify itself to the prince of the host, 
would be to assert Messianic claims. "\i took away from 
Him the continual (?), and the place of His sanctu- 
ary was cast down.'^ The words ^^burnt offering" in the 
translation should be omitted. It is the eucharist that 
is to be discontinued; and the casting down of the place 
of His sanctuary will be fulfilled by the general seizure of 
Protestant churches. ^^And the host was given over," 
by the Protestant people under the compulsion of Anti- 
christ, ^T^y reason of transgression," in partaking of it 
unworthily. 

The great earthquake mentioned by John is to be inter- 
preted in a political agitation. That would be the natural 
outcome of such an outrage as Daniel describes. Then 
^^the sun became black as sackcloth of hair;" the light of 

143 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

the gospel will be wholly obscured : "and the whole moon 
became as blood ;^^ the government will be transformed 
into a murderous institution. "And the stars of heaven 
fell unto the earth as a fig-tree casteth her unripe fruity 
when she is shaken of a mighty w^ind/^ Many of the lead- 
ing lights of the Church will apostatize, in order to save 
themselves from violence. "And the heaven was removed 
as a scroll wiien it is laid by;'^ the Churcli will be sus- 
pended, but not destroyed: and all classes of men "hid 
themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains/^ 
to escape from the fury of the terrible Antichrist. 

In the beginning of that tribulation, the first step on 
the part of Antichrist everj^where will be to place the 
abomination of desolation in the holy place, whicli is to be 
understood as the placing of the Antichrist emblem in or 
over the churches. Our Lord was speaking to His disciples 
who were Jews, and to the Jews His words directly ap- 
ply ; but all places of worship will be seized ; and it seems 
apparent that there will be a simultaneous and world-wide 
movement planned and carried out at a given time, a sud- 
den and universal Antichrist uprising. The seizure of the 
churches is to be the signal for the people of God to make 
a precipitate flight, the words of our Lord implying that 
a general assault will follow. "And then shall be great 
tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of 
the world until now, no, nor ever shall be.^^ The words of 
our Lord should be carefully weighed; for whatever that 
great tribulation shall mean, it will be of unparalleled 
severity; and the world in general, and the American 
people in particular, may well stand in awe of its coming. 

"But immediately after the tribulations of those days 
the sun shall be darkened,^^ etc. In this passage the Lord 
speaks of "the tribulation^^ as distinct from the other trib- 
ulations of that period, meaning the first furious assault. 

144 



GENEEAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

The obscuring of the Churchy and the apostasy that shall 
follow, is to be ^^immediately after^^ that circumstance: 
^^and except those days had been shortened no flesh had 
been saved/^ as followers of Christ. 

John calls that period of tribulation "a little time, 
until their fellow servants and their brethren who should 
be killed even as they were shall have finished their course/^ 
It is to be a period of martyrdom similar to that of the 
fourth seal, but of shorter duration, being limited to sixty- 
five years. (See Isa. 7:8.) That is a short time as com- 
pared with the past protracted era of martyrdom, which 
lasted about five centuries. It is well known that the old 
instruments of torture are being kept in reserve for future 
use; and the express declaration of the word of prophecy, 
that the future martjrrs of that time shall be killed even 
as they were, leaves no room to doubt that there will be a 
renewal of ancient barbarities, in the use of the many con- 
trivances of torture and violence that were inflicted upon 
the witnesses of Christ in the past era of Popish enormities. 

After the three Antichrist scourges of that period, there 
will be a general reaction of public sentiment against the 
atrocities of that time, and against the parties who shall 
perpetrate them; and they shall be driven "^"^into a land 
barren and desolate, his forepart into the eastern sea,^^ 
the Atlantic, ^'^and his hinder part into the western sea,^^ 
the Pacific; ^^and his stench shall come up, and his ill 
savour shall come up, because he hath done great things.^^ 
They will become very unpopular, even odious in the eyes 
of the public in general; and there will be a general 
emigration out of the country of that class that came to 
set up the reign of Antichrist. The binding of the four 
winds suggests the general suspension of that Antichrist 
storm; and a lengthy interval of peace will follow. 

Some reformatory measures of a national character will 
10 145 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

at length arouse the antagonism of the Anticlirist party. 
This is symbolized in John^s revelation by the filling of the 
censer with fire of the altar and casting it into the earth. 
The omens of war then follow^ and at the sounding of the 
first trumpet the war begins. The desolations of that time 
will continue until the country shall again be reduced to 
a waste. '^^The third part of the earth was burnt up/^ the 
legal dominion was partially destroyed: "^^and all green 
grass was burnt up/^ the prosperity of the country ruined 
as before. The first trumpet is the latter time of the 
divided government where Antichrist shall rise (see Dan. 
8: 23) ; and the partial destruction of the legal dominion 
means that there will be a revolution. 

The wars of the first trumpet will be confined chiefly 
to America ; but the struggle will be renev/ed in the second 
trumpet^ and will take on international proportions. A 
great naval warfare and a complete Antichrist overthrow 
will be the distinguishing features of that era; and the 
old power of Antichrist will thenceforth take its place in 
the world as a non-political institution. 

After making so much trouble for others^ Antichrist 
will begin to have trouble of his own. Three new Anti- 
christ sects will originate in the second trumpet; and in 
the early part of the third trumpet there will be a four- 
fold schism^ each representing an independent branch ; and 
the original institution will be broken up and will dis- 
appear. But the four branches will at length unite and 
form one body again. In Ihe meantime the second form 
of Antichrist^ having its origin in the Wormwood apostasy, 
will become very strong and be a rival of tlie old power. 
That era will be noted for the many and insidious forms 
of error and false Messianic theories that shall abound, 
the Wormwood delusion taking the lead. 

The second form of Antichrist will become very op- 

146 



GENEEAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

pressive. Isaiah says, '^Ho Assyrian, the rod of Mine 
anger, the staff in whose hand is Mine indignation ! I will 
send him against a profane nation and against the people 
of ]\Iy wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, 
and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire 
of the streets/^ And again, ^^For he hath said. By the 
strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, 
for I have understanding : and I have removed the bounds 
of the people, and have robbed their treasures, and I have 
brought down as a valiant man them that sit on thrones; 
and my hand hath found as a nest the riches of the peoples ; 
and as one gathereth eggs that are forsaken have I gathered 
all the earth : and there was none that moved the wing, or 
that opened the mouth, or chirped/^ The later Antichrist 
will become widespread, extending to ^'^all the earth ;^^ and 
they will operate thru the political powers and gather 
wealth by means of political oppression. Like the old 
power of Antichrist before their overthrow, they will be a 
politico-ecclesiastical power. 

DanieFs fourth vision shows that during the third 
trumpet there will be a great deal of warring between the 
two Antichrist powers of that era ; but the later Antichrist, 
like the old power, will at length attempt to overthrow the 
Church. Isaiah gives an allegorical prophecy of that mat- 
ter in his description of the attempted siege of Jerusalem 
by the Assyrians under Eabshakeh. The smiting of the 
Assyrians prefigures a terrible visitation that shall fall 
upon Antichrist to save the Church; and it will probably 
be interpreted by a sweeping pestilence that will fall upon 
them during the last ten years of the third trumpet. 

That is also the time of the beginning of the Little Horn 
of DaniePs first vision, a sect that will become very power- 
ful in the time of the fourth trumpet and develop into the 
third power of Antichrist. The old form of Antichrist will 

147 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

be broken up into ten sects; but these will unite into one 
body again. 

In those days the general need of a reformation will be 
recognized among all classes. Both Jews and Christians 
will labor for a reformation^ and so will the two older forms 
of Antichrist. The old power will be led by an able re- 
former, who will succeed in bringing about a partial ref- 
ormation in five of the ten branches. Intercommunion 
will then be establislied between those two Antichrist 
powers ; and they will even extend their fraternal fellowship 
to the Jews. (Isa. 19:24.) 

The late form of Antichrist, the Little Horn, will be an 
active and powerful assailant of every reputedly corrupt 
organization, religious or political. They will uproot three 
of the ten Antichrist sects, and will menace the Christian 
institution. After the separation of the Eeformers the late 
Antichrists will begin an ecclesiastical siege against the 
rejected Christian institution; and so successful will be 
their efforts that in seventeen years, or by the close of the 
fourth trumpet, that once important religious body wili be 
wholly disorganized. 

John's very general description of the fourth trumpet 
sums up results in one brief sentence. "The third part of 
the sun was smitten, and the third part of the moon, and 
tlie third part of the stars." Tlie obscuring of so large a 
proportion of the religious and political systems is to be 
accounted for in the social disturbances of that period, in 
wliich the rising Antichrists, who will think to change the 
limes and the laws, will take a leading part. They will 
defeat 'the old power of Antichrist; and the havoc they 
will make among the governments of the world will be 
seen prospectively by an American statesman, the drift of 
whose prophecies is given in Eev. 8:13, "Woe, woe, woe, 
for them that dwell on the earth, by reason of the other 

148 



GENERAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

voices of the trumpet of the three angels who are yet to 
sound/^ 

At the beginning of the fifth trumpet the late Anti- 
christs Avill take their places in the world as a strong an- 
archistic institution^ but claiming to be the true evangelical 
succession of the reformed Christian institution of the 
sixth seal. They will have a home or settlement of their 
own in South America (referred to in Hab. 2:5); and 
the prophetic name for that stronghold of Anarchy is 
Babylon, altho the term is also applied to that form of 
Antichrist in general. The dissatisfaction of the masses in 
that era will be favorable to their avowed purpose of chang- 
ing the times and the laws; and the heads of the govern- 
ments will be hampered ^^like prisoners shut up in a pit;^^ 
and that pit is Anarchy. After the Anarchists shall reach 
the height of their power, they will exercise Messianic 
authority over the nations of South America for seventy 
years, in the character of a Messianic power without a 
recognized Messiah. That seventy years of Babylon will 
be the concluding part of the first one-hundred-and-twenty 
years of the fifth trumpet (the time of three generations, 
Jer. 27:7). The last thirty years of the fifth trumpet 
will be fulfilled in a thirty years^ war, and answers to the 
month of Hosea 5 : 7. 

Jer. 25 : 8-10 gives a brief description of the circum- 
stances of the fourth trumpet and first half century of the 
fifth trumpet. There will be war in the far East; and the 
Antichrists will conquer Palestine and the neighboring 
countries. EzekiePs prophecy reveals that a large colony 
of Jews will be deported by the Anarchists to South Amer- 
ica to a settlement contiguous with their own, and probably 
once occupied by them in the latter part of the sixth seal. 
They will fiourish under the favor of the Anarchists during 
the first half century of the fifth trumpet, or until the 

149 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

seventy years era of the power of Anarchy; when the 
Anarchists will become very arrogant and oppressive wher- 
ever their power shall extend. After serving the purpose 
of God for the correction of others, they will become a 
menace to society, and their power must be broken (Jer. 
25:11, 12). 

One of the reasons assigned for bringing a destructive 
war upon the Anarchists is their oppressive treatment of 
the Jews (Jer. 50:9-18; 51:31, 35). Another reason is 
their persistent efforts to break up the governments of the 
world, ^^smiting the nations with a continual stroke.^^ 
Their Messianic aspirations is also another reason. They 
will desire to ^^exalt their throne above the stars of God,'^ 
or become the leading Messianic religious power; ^^and to 
sit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the 
NortlV^ or establish a Messianic center in North America. 
The old Antichrists will be defeated by them in an effort 
they shall make to set up a Messiah ; and that will be the 
occasion of the thirty years^ war before referred to. 

That war will be an international war, and will spread 
over all of South America (Ezek. 20:46-48). Isaiah 
speaks of it as ^^the noise of a multitude in tlie mountains, 
like as the noise of a great people ; a tumultuous noise of 
the kingdoms of the nations gathered together; Jehovah 
of hosts mustereth the hosts of the battle.^^ The power of 
Anarchy will be very great, and immense preparations will 
be made for their overthrow. Dan. 11 : 25 makes it appear 
that the old power of Antichrist will begin the war by 
sending a great army against the Anarchists; and the 
Anarchists will meet them with a very great and mighty 
army. Jeremiah says, ^^Behold, a people shall come from 
the North, and a great nation, and many kings shall be 
raised up from the coasts of the earth. . . . They are cruel 
and will not show mercy. . . . The king of Babylon shall 

150 



GENEEAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

come up like a lion from the swelling of Jordan, . . . but 
I will make them suddenly run away from her/^ In 
that early engagement the Anarchists will be beaten; and 
the reason assigned by Daniel is that ^^they will forecast 
devices against Him/^ Their opponents^ plans will be 
previously arranged and successfully carried out. 

Daniel speaks of an armistice after that first expedition. 
The old Antichrists will then return home with great 
riches; ^^and Chaldea shall be a spoil.'^ After his return 
^%s heart shall be against the holy covenant.^^ He will med- 
itate opening up a persecution against the people of God. 
At the expiration of the armistice, ^^at the time appointed, 
he will return and come toward the South; but .... 
the ships of Chittim shall come against him.^^ A Protes- 
tant fleet will go against the Antichrists, because of their 
threatening attitude toward them. The Antichrists will 
then retire until they can *^^have intelligence with them 
that forsake the holy covenant/^ the community of Jews, 
who will enter into a treaty with them. Then ^^arms shall 
stand on his part,^^ the arms of the treacherous Jews, ^^and 
they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall 
take away the continual (?), and they shall set up the 
abomination that maketh desolate.^^ They will profane 
both the Jewish and the Christian Churches; '^'^and such 
as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by 
flatteries.^^ After that circumstance a persecution will be 
carried on ; and the people of God "shall fall by the sword, 
and by flame, and by captivity, and by spoil many days;^' 
and this will continue "to the time of the end,^^ or last 
expedition of that war. 

"At the time of the end the king of the South will 
push at him (the king of the North), and the king of the 
North will come against him with chariots, and with horse- 
men, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the 

151 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

countries, and shall overflow and pass over^^ (Dan. 11 : 40). 
There will then be a general call for arms ; and that inter- 
national war will take a very wide range. Immense forces 
will be raised in Continental Europe and Western Asia; 
and a strong force of Irish troops will be sent to the South. 

We quote the words of Jeremiah: ^'Jehovah hath 
raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes; for His 
device is against Babylon to destroy it. . . . Set ye up a 
standard in the land, blow the trumpet among the nations, 
prepare the nations against her, the kingdoms of Ararat, 
Minni and Ashkenaz ; appoint a captain against her, cause 
the horses to come up as the rough caterpillar. Prepare 
against her the nations with the kings of the Medes, the 
captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, and all the 
land of his dominion.^^ 

Those strong re-enforcements will be successful in the 
overthrow of the Anarchistic stronghold. ^^The mighty 
men of Babylon have forborne to fight ; they have remained 
in their holds: their might hath failed; they became as 
women: they have burned her dwelling places; her bars 
are broken. One post shall run to meet another, and 
one messenger to meet another, to show the king of Babylon 
that his city is taken at one end, and that the passages 
are stopped, and the reeds they have burned with fire, and 
the men of war are affrighted.^^ (See Jer. 51.) 

The twenty-first chapter of Isaiah also describes that 
closing conflict. ^^As whirlwinds in the south pass thru; 
so it Cometh from the desert, from a terrible land.'^ It 
is the tornado of war that the prophet is describing. 
There is terrible suspense, and the context shows it to be 
the Jews who are anxiously waiting for messengers to de- 
clare the issue of that engagement; for at that time they 
will have given their allegiance to the old power of Anti- 

15« 



GENEEAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

Christ ; and should the Anarchists gain the day, they would 
be attacked by them. 

That Antichrist war will wholly put an end to the 
center and stronghold of Anarchy. Isaiah says : ^Trepare 
slaughter for His children for the iniquity of their fathers : 
that they do not rise^ nor possess the land^ nor fill the face 
of the world with cities [i. e._, anarchistic communities]. 
For I will rise up against them^ saith Jehovah of hosts, 
and will cut off from Babylon the name and remnant and 
son and nephew, saith Jehovah. I will also make it a 
possession for the bittern, and pools of water ; and I will 
sweep it with the besom of destruction, saith Jehovah of 
hosts.'' 

The words of Jeremiah: ^^Then shalt thou say, Je- 
hovah, Thou hast spoken against this place, to cut it off, 
that none shall remain in it, neither man nor beast, but 
Ihat it shall be desolate forever. And it shall be when 
thou hast made an end of reading this book that thou 
shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of 
Euphrates: and thou shalt say. Thus shall Babylon sink, 
and shall not rise from the evil that I shall bring upon 
her: and they shall be weary.'' Anarchy will still be 
strong, but will never rise to its former importance; and 
the anarchistic stronghold will be finally and forever de- 
stroyed. 

After the overthrow of Anarchy the king of the iSTorth 
will invade Palestine and the neighboring countries of the 
East, and will also be victorious there. He will then 
"plant the tents of his palace between the sea and the 
glorious holy mountain," or set up the headquarters of his 
institution somewhere between Jerusalem and the Medi- 
terranean Sea, with the evident purpose in view of estab- 
lishing his Messianic center in Palestine; "yet he shall 

153 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

come to his end^ and none shall help him/^ His purpose 
will be defeated. 

Other great wars Avill occur in the earlj^ part of the 
sixth trumpet^ in which the Anarchists will be involved 
with the Jews, the Protestants, and the old Antichrists, 
and appears to answer to the second rumor of Jer. 51 : 46. 
The passage referred to is a prophetic hint of two great 
eras of international w^ars, the first being in the fifth trum- 
pet, the one Ave have been discussing; and the second in 
the early part of the sixth trumpet, the beginning of a 
series of protracted international wars. The twenty-fourth 
to thirty-second chapters, inclusive, of Ezekiel describe that 
protracted era of war, and the twent3^-third chapter of 
Isaiah shows that it will last seventy years. Jeremiah also 
speaks of a later seventy years^ international war that shall 
involve all the nations upon the face of the earth. It an- 
swers to the time of trouble of Daniel 12: 1. Six-sevenths 
of the male population will be destroyed. It will be the 
most sanguinary conflict the world shall ever see up to 
that time. (See Isa. 4:1; 24: 14-23.) 

The two Millennial epochs of Daniel date the time of 
the end of the two great Antichrist powers that shall figure 
so greatly during the last three trumpets, the final over- 
throw of two of the greatest enemies of both the Church 
and the State the world shall ever see. Twelve hundred 
and ninety years from the setting up of the abomination of 
desolation, at the beginning of the coming twelve-hundred- 
and-sixty-year cycle, the old power of Antichrist will be 
finally and forever brought to an end. Thirteen hundred 
and thirty-five years from the same circumstance will fulfill 
the number of the Beast, and signifies the numbering and 
finishing of the world^s future Chaldean power, the third 
form of Antichrist, from the time of its rise. The first 
epoch will take place in the thirtieth year of the Millennial 

154 



GEXEEAL VIEW OF ANTICHRIST 

era, and the second epoch will take place in the seventy- 
fifth year of the Millennial era. 

The second form of Antichrist will be condemned by 
the Millennial tribunal as an anarchistic institution, and 
will be so restrained thruout that era that they will not be 
able to set up a Messiah. The Millennial administration 
in Europe and America will be so obnoxious to the Anti- 
christs that they will go to the far East to build up their 
institutions. The two mountains of brass mentioned by 
Zechariah represent that system of Antichrist in their later 
development during the Millennial era. After the iron 
rule of the Millennial administration shall be relaxed they 
will set up a Messiah and will overrun and reduce many 
countries of the East. Lastly, they will invade Palestine 
and besiege the ancient city of Jerusalem. The siege will 
be ended by a terrible volcanic storm that shall destroy 
Antichrist^s army. A succession of defeats at the hands 
of the Jews will reduce and scatter their remaining forces, 
and the one remaining Antichrist power will meet with the 
fate of the other two. The world will then be finally and 
forever rid of its Antichrist foes. 



155 



CHAPTEK IX 

General View of the Church 

The Church is the institution to which the oracles of 
God are committed^ and is therefore the body of true wor- 
shipers who represent the true worship of God, and the 
channel thru which gospel work is carried on in the world. 
That is the general purpose of a divinely-appointed in- 
stitution; yet the Spirit of Christ was revealed in godly 
men before there was an organized Church, just as the 
spirit of Antichrist was revealed in ungodly men before 
there was an Antichrist institution in the world. 

It has been shown that the Antichrist had its origin in 
corrupted Christianity; but it does not follow that all de- 
fective Christian institutions are Antichrist. As long as 
the knowledge of God is taught thru His inspired Word, 
the Holy Scriptures, and the worship is free from idola- 
trous innovations, an institution is not Antichrist. The his- 
tory of the Church is a history of backsliding, corruptions, 
corrections, and reformations; but on the whole, gospel 
work has been steadily progressing, and the Church of each 
successive era is coming nearer to perfection. 

Man^s knowledge of God had to come thru revelation, 
and such revelations were given from time to time thru 
men whom God recognized as persons who were suitable to 
receive them. Only a few, comparatively speaking, have 
ever been so favored, and after the institution of the 
Church their writings were kept on record. The masses 

166 



GENEEAL VIEW OF THE CHUECH 

of men have to depend upon those inspired writings and 
what is taught from them for their knowledge of God; and 
the divine oracles have been guarded and preserved with 
the greatest of eare^ first bj^ the Jews, and afterward by 
both Christians and Jews. 

No man-made sj'stem of religion ever gave a correct 
knowledge of God. At the best they can only represent 
men's ideas of divine things, which have always proven to 
be very erroneous. A divinely-appointed institution for 
keeping the oracles of God and teaching His revealed will 
was therefore necessary, in order that the knowledge of 
God and His laws might be preserved for the benefit of 
the race. Such an institution had to receive the sanction 
of divine authority in such a way that men could ap- 
prehend it. For that reason a nation was raised up for 
that especial purpose, and taken out from under the power 
of a people much stronger than they; and that by great 
signs and wonders, such as fully attested the divine inter- 
ference. The nation of Israel were no better practically 
than the Egyptians ; but their recognition of the true God 
was first secured thru His direct interference in their be- 
half, and afterward by His bestowing Canaan upon them 
as a covenant home, and dispossessing seven nations greater 
and mightier than they. The covenant was the basis of 
the Church and State, which were national institutions. 

The Mosaic system of worship was ritualistic, with cere- 
monial object lessons, and was best adapted to man's primi- 
tive state, while the masses were as yet uneducated. Only 
one temple was permitted, and that in the place of God's 
own choice, in order that the system should be preserved 
in its purity. Such an arrangement was intended to be 
only temporary and to serve until the masses should be 
prepared for something better. But so prone were men to 
follow after their own ideas that the direct interference of 

157 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

God was sometimes necessary in order to save His chosen 
nation from going to idolatry; and even then idolatrous 
innovations continued thruout the entire history of the 
Jewish Comm.onwealth until the entire nation were con- 
demned to a seventy years^ captivity. 

Schools of prophets were established in Israel soon aftei 
the government was changed to a kingdom. That gave 
the people better advantages for instruction. After the 
temple at Jerusalem was destroyed^ and the remnant of the 
Jews were deported into Chaldea^ they built synagogs as 
places of worship and instruction; but the laws of Moses 
would not allow sacrifices to be offered in them, nor in 
any place except the place of God^s own choice, which was 
Jerusalem. The synagogs proved to be so expedient that 
they continued in use even after the Jews were restored 
to their country and temple. 

God's purpose of a reformation was revealed thru 
Moses, who said, ^^Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee 
a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like 
unto me; unto Him ye shall hearken/^ After the Jewish 
institution had served its purpose in the world for many 
centuries, in due time the Prophet of Nazareth appeared, 
the one of whom Moses foretold. His authority was greater 
than that of Moses, because He was the Son of God and 
knew the will of God perfectly without any special revela- 
tions. His divine authority was also fully attested thru 
the mighty powers He wrought, such as the people could 
apprehend to be of God. 

He corrected the false teachings of the Jewg, and laid 
down the principles of the reformation in His famous Ser- 
mon on the Mount. His teachings did not in any wise con- 
flict with the principles of the Mosaic system, but were of 
a higher order. He chose twelve disciples to train as His 
apostles and to be the founders of His Church. That was 

158 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHURCH 

the beginning of a new dispensation, and involved either 
the changing or doing away of the Mosaic system. The 
opposition of the Jews to the new order of things made 
it necessary for the apostles of Jesus to form a separate 
institution (after His death) as a spiritual home for His 
followers, and for the promulgation of gospel truth. The 
great passion sacrifice of Chrisf s body put an end to the 
Mosaic sacrifices as an institution of divine appointment, 
and the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus put an end to 
the Jewish polity. 

The Christian institution as it was established by the 
■apostles was not an objective or ritualistic system. The 
two sacraments of baptism and the Lord^s Supper are its' 
only divinely-authorized rites which serve as types or ob- 
ject lessons; and these, like the Mosaic ceremonies, will 
probably be laid aside after they shall have served their 
purpose in illustrating truths that the masses shall some 
day be better prepared to understand. Even the parabolic 
method of teaching that was adopted by our Lord in ac- 
cordance with the customs of Jewish times was abandoned 
by the apostles in favor of the plainer statement of divine 
truth. It was an advanced era of the Church ; and a doc- 
trinal system of teaching and the recognition of the Christ 
incarnate as the Savior of the world were the distinguish- 
ing features of the Christian institution. It was not a 
national institution; but was from its beginning designed 
to be catholic or universal. It was also missionary, in 
obedience to its Head, who commanded His disciples to go 
forth into all the world, and preach the gospel to every 
creature. 

The Antichrist that rose led the Church into captivity, 
and the Protestant Reformation was the leading of the 
people of God out of their spiritual Egypt and the forming 
anew of the Christian body. Protestantism is the true 

159 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

evangelical successor of the Apostolic institution, to which 
it bears the same relation as did the restored Jewish Church 
to the original Mosaic institution. The past night of Anti- 
christ left the world very much in the dark thru the peo- 
ple's deprivation of the Bible; but the Eeformation re- 
stored the Bible to its rightful place in the Church. 

The Protestant institution, like the Jewish Church, is 
composed of a number of branches. The Protestant writ- 
ings that are regarded by them as authentic also bear the 
same relation to the Bible as do the rabbinical Jewish writ- 
ings. The Jewish writers labored to counteract the corrupt 
and idolatrous tendencies of their times and to expound 
the true meaning of the Mosaic law; and the Protestant 
writers labored to counteract the Papal innovations and 
delusions of their times, and to give the true interpreta- 
tion of the Holy Scriptures. Both' Jews and Protestants 
had similar aims; and altho the productions of both were 
but a partial success, they were not an utter failure. They 
were the expression of good men's ideas, the best of their 
time, in their inquiries after the truth; and they gave to 
the Church the best they were able to produce, in the dawn 
that began to distinguish between light and darkness. 

But a time is coming that shall more fully reveal the 
meaning of truth and error ; for in the coming tribulation 
the false lights of the Church will go over to Antichrist, 
and the corruptions of Protestantism will be swept away; 
for that appears to be the purpose for which that tribula- 
tion shall be sent. That will be the beginning of the 
future era of the Church, or the Church in prophecy. x\t 
the beginning of the twentieth century the present gospel 
noonday has been reached, and the night is coming. It is 
the night of the false Messiahs; and in its prophetic de- 
scription it bears some resemblance to the past night of 
Antichrist. It will be a Satanic era of twelve hundred 

160 



GENEEAL A^EW OF THE CHUECH 

and sixty years, and will be distinguished for the domina- 
tion of the same Antichrist power and having the same 
general characteristics as in its past history. There will 
also be an era of spiritual darkness, the darkest of the 
night, and lasting four hundred years in the first four 
trumpets, and a thirty years^ period of desolation visited 
upon the powers of Antichrist at the close of that pro- 
phetic 1,260 days^ era. The points of difference can be 
seen in the circumstances at the beginning of those two 
eras: the first being a gradual, and the second a sudden 
change; in the two future Antichrist powers that shall 
complete the deviPs trinity; and in the revelation of the 
man of sin, and of the mystery of God, in the future 1,260- 
day cycle. 

That era, considered as a whole, is to be a time of 
great trouble, such as the world never saw; but the first 
tribulation of that coming night will probably be the se- 
verest the Church in general will have to sustain. America 
will be the center of that persecution; but there is good 
reason to believe that it will not be confined to America 
alone. The institutions of the two opposing spiritual 
powers of Christ and Antichrist are already world-wide 
and spreading abroad, and by the time of that tribulation 
they will be the two leading religious powers of the world. 
There will be three Antichrist scourges within sixty-five 
years, and probably of a general character, with inter- 
vening intervals of relaxed severity. Those days shall be 
shortened, not to a shorter duration than the prophets 
name, but to a shorter limit than the past era of perse- 
cution. 

After the third scourge there will be a general call to 
tlie people of God for fasting and prayer in behalf of God's 
heritage, the suffering Church, and es]3ecially the suffer- 
ing Church in i^merica. Joel's trumpet-call for prayer 
11 161 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

has been sounding thru many centuries, and will sound 
thru the coming three hundred years to the end of that 
great tribulation. There will then be a general response, 
the "ministers of Jehovah weeping between the porch and 
the altar^' in humiliation before God, and saying: "Spare 
Tliy people, Jehovah, and give not Thy heritage to 
reproach that the nations [under the dominion of Anti- 
christ] should rule over them: wherefore should they say 
among the peoples, Where is their God? Then was Je- 
hovah jealous for His land, and had pity for His people. 
And Jehovah answered and said, Behold, I will send 
you grain and new wine and oil; and ye shall be satis- 
fied therewith. . . . Fear not, land, be glad and 
rejoice, for Jehovah hath done great things . . . And 
the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall over- 
flow witli new wine and oil. And it shall come to pass 
afterward that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh.'' 

The sudden calming of that violent persecution was 
beautifully foreshadowed in Christ's stilling of the tem- 
pest. The storm was raging violently, and the waves cov- 
ered the boat. "Then He arose, and rebuked the winds 
and the sea; and there was a great calm." That miracle 
is the pledge of an even greater miracle that shall be 
wrought in behalf of God's people, in the calming of a 
great storm of persecution. 

After the removal of Antichrist's army and the re- 
turn of peace and prosperity, the chastened people of God 
will take up evangelistic work anew; and that era of gos- 
pel work will be a sequel to the gospel era of the fifth seal 
(referred to in the sixth chapter of Isaiah). All the serv- 
ants of God of every nation will be sealed with the Holy 
Spirit, in fulfillment of the prophecy of Joel 2 : 28, 29. 
The sealed evangelists will afterward organize the Im- 
manuel institution of Isaiah 7 : 14. 

162 



GEJ^EEAL YiEW OF THE CHUECH 

That century of peace and gospel power will then be 
interrupted by a cloud upon the world's political horizon. 
Something in the political aspects of America will cause 
the people of God to become apprehensive of impending 
danger; and they will prepare for their coming peril by 
holding an international prayer service^ the prophetic anti- 
type of the silent half hour. Sometliing of the nature of 
the former troubles will be threatening the country, and 
they will endeavor to reform the government of the po- 
litical corruptions that shall again threaten the nation's 
ruin. The tribulations of the sixth seal will have been 
suspended^ but not ended. They will only wait until the 
restraining powers shall be relaxed; and then the Anti- 
christ party wall attempt to seize the reins of the govern- 
ment again, and the American people will be in arms. 

The political overthrow of Antichrist as the outcome 
of the wars of the first and second trumpets will be of 
great consequence to the Church. The Prophet Amos, 
speaking reflectively, says : ^^Yet destroyed I the Amorite 
before them whose height was like the height of the cedars, 
and he was strong as the oaks; yet I destroyed his fruit 
from above, and his roots from beneath. Also I brought 
you up out of the land of Egypt, and led you forty years 
in the wilderness to possess the land of the Amorite,'' or 
dominion of Protestantism. The above passage is purely 
prophetic, and there is no reason to doubt that it refers 
to the time of the political overthrow of Antichrist in the 
second trumpet. The first trumpet is the future forty 
years' period of the Church under Egypt; but in the po- 
litical aspects of those two periods they are the antitypes 
of the two dynasties of Saul and David ; a revolution tak- 
ing place in the leading American government in the first 
trumpet, and the government organizing anew in the sec- 
ond trumpet. 

163 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

After the wilderness period of desolation that shall fol- 
low the international war of the second trumpet there will 
be a return of prosperity; but the better class of men will 
apprehend the need of a more radical reformation. We 
turn again to the words of Amos: "And I raised up of 
your sons for prophets, and of your 3'oung men for Naza- 
rites; . . . but ye gave the Xazarites wine to drink; 
and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not/^ The 
Church will probably begin to degenerate thru the voluptu- 
ous tendencies of its people during the prosperous times 
of the sealing period; and the tribulations of the first and 
second trumpets will fail to correct their backsliding tend- 
encies to worldly corruptions; and the people of God's 
recognized institution will use strong drink. The Naza- 
rites of Amos are to be understood as temperance reform- 
ers, and the prophets are men who will endeavor to lead 
the Church up to a higher plane; but neither of the two 
classes of reformers will be wholly successful. 

That failure on the part of the Church will be fol- 
lowed later by a ten years' persecution. John does not 
say by whom, but ascribes it to the devil. It follows too 
soon after the overthrow of Antichrist to be likely to pro- 
ceed from them, and is closely connected in point of time 
with the crusliing of the attempted reformation. It also 
borders upon the era of the Wormwood apostasy, Avhich fa- 
vors the probability that it will be the beginning of that 
later tribulation. Less than a century after the glorious 
sealing period will Satan again begin to Avork within the 
Church. A schism in the Church and the forming of a 
new Antichrist institution will be the outcome of that 
Wormwood apostasy. 

We quote from Isaiah^s description of the rapid spread 
of that form of Antichrist: "He shall come up over all 
his channels, and go over all his banks; and he shall sweep 

164 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHUECH 

onward into Judah and he shall overflow and pass thru; 
he shall reach even to the neck; and the stretching out of 
his wings shall fill the breadth of thy land, Immanuel/' 
Wherever the evangelistic fruits of the institution of the 
sealing period shall extend, that form of Antichrist will 
follow. 

The Prophet Amos testifies of the drunkenness and im- 
morality that shall prevail among all classes of society in 
that era of Antichrist and apostasy, and calls all God's 
Israel the ^^kine of Bashan that are in the mountains of 
Samaria, that oppress the poor, that crush the needy, that 
say to their lords. Bring, and let us drink/' They ^^are 
they that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat 
of violence to draw near ; that lie upon beds of ivor}^, and 
stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs 
out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the 
stall; that sing idle songs . . . that drink wine in 
bowls . . . but they are not grieved for the affliction 
of Joseph,'^ the reformers w^ho were sold by them. 

It seems apparent that the "kine of Bashan,'' or those 
most leavened by Antichrist errors, will at length be car- 
ried away by the apostate Antichrist institution; and that 
will embolden them to attempt to carry by storm the rem- 
nant that shall remain. That attempted siege of the 
Church, which shall occur ten years before the close of 
the third trumpet, the era of the great apostasy, is also 
coincident with the time of the severe visitation that shall 
fall upon that institution and be the means of delivering 
the Church. 

The great need of a reformation being realized at that 
time, two classes of professed reformers will appear : one 
being Christian, and the other Antichrist. The true re- 
formers will undertake their final effort to reform the 
Church. Five years later the Church will begin to be 
menaced by the Antichrist reformers, who will endeavor by 

165 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

persuasive efforts to gain that class that the apostate Anti- 
christs attempted to carry by storm. The timely efforts 
of the true reformers will save the Church; and they will 
continue to labor for a reformation for eighteen years 
longer^ making twenty-three years in all of persevering^ 
but unsuccessful effort. 

The reformers will then call a convention. Micah says^ 
^T will surely assemble, Jacob, all of thee.^' The en- 
tire body of reformers will assemble or be represented in 
that convention. ^^I will surely gather the remnant of 
Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah; 
as a flock in the midst of their pasture.^^ That convention 
will represent the only existing class of that time who 
will be wholly correct in their ideas and free from practical 
corruptions. ^They shall make a great noise by reason 
of the multitude of men.^^ There will be a large assembly 
of that minority class of the Church, and their proceedings 
will cause great excitement. The breaker who shall go 
up before them is a commanding person, who shall favor 
a departure out of the incorrigible institution. 

That convention will take place five hundred and 
thirty-three years after the close of the sealing period, and 
four hundred and thirteen years after the beginning of 
the AYormwood apostasy. The proposal of that influential 
body of reformers, the best people of the time, to leave 
the institution that evangelized the world after the. great 
Antichrist tribulation, and then held out for four hundred 
years against Antichrist innovations, will certainly cause a 
great agitation; but the motion to leave will be carried. 
The saintly leader with his followers will "pass on to the 
gate and go out thereat/^ and as their king "pass on be- 
fore them, and Jehovah at the head of them.^^ 

In the language of the third chapter of Micah, they 
will declaim against the wickedness of the institution from 



GEXEEAL VIEW OF THE CHUECH 

which they departed. A careful study of that chapter will 
show that they are not charged with Antichrist corrup- 
tions; but that it is the practical wickedness of the people 
of the Church, their covetousness, and oppressiveness that 
the reformers denounce. Their heads and rulers are per- 
sons ^Vho hate the good and love the evil; who pluck 
their skin from off them, . . . and break their bones, . . . 
prophets that make my people to err; that bite with their 
teeth, and cry, peace; and whoso putteth not in their 
mouths, they even prepare war against Him. . . . The 
heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof 
teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.'^ 
The Church of voluptuous people, who shall resist all 
reformatory efforts, will degenerate into a monetary insti- 
tution, and will be noted for covetousness and oppression. 
"Yet will they lean upon Jehovah, and say, Is not Jehovah 
in the midst of us? No evil shall come upon us.^^ They 
will falsely and hypocritically profess to have the presence 
of God with them as of old. These are the things the elect 
denounce against them, and declare that Zion for their 
sake "shall be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be- 
come heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high 
places of a forest/^ 

The reformers will labor for the better things of the 
latter days, and will endeavor to restore ^^the former do- 
minions^ of the sealing period, working in the capacity of 
an outside body "in the field with Babylon,^^ the body of 
Antichrist reformers who will be in competition with them. 
There will be a simultaneous evangelistic crusade by the 
two rival Christian and Antichrist bodies, and the elect 
leader will be treated, with great indignity by his oppo- 
nents, who shall "smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon 
the cheek.ss 

Altho the reformers will not succeed in correcting the 

167 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

backslidden Church, the masses will be awakened more 
fully to the need of a general reformation ; and the partial 
reformation of the two older forms of Antichrist will prob- 
ably be indirectly due to them. A good work will also be 
accomplished among the Jews; and let us hope that it 
will extend to the Protestants also. A new era of the 
Church will date from the twenty-third year of the fourth 
trumpet, and the two rival branches of reformers will or- 
ganize about the same time and take their places among 
the religious powers of the world at the time of the great 
Controversy, in the beginning of the fifth trumpet. 

The emigi'ation of the elect people from the seat of 
the Controversy in Great Britain to America will save 
them from the furious assaults of Antichrist in that coun- 
try, but will bring them into closer contact with the new 
and rising Antichrist power in America, the latter probably 
being of American origin. Those later Antichrists will 
sting their opponents unmercifulh^ and will be exceedingly 
bitter and hostile toward the reformed Christian body, 
seeking to wear them out by their persecutions and by 
hampering them thru unfavorable legislation, when they 
shall have accomplished their purpose of changing the 
times and the laws. 

While the Jews and Protestants and the late Antichrists 
shall be devoting a great deal of time to mercantile mat- 
ters, the reformed Christians will be gathering God^s elect 
into their institution. After the political disturbances that 
shall involve both Jews and Protestants in war with the 
Anarchists, the reformers will hold a convention, — the one 
referred to in Zephaniah 2 : 1-3. It will probably be the 
starting point of a reformation among the Protestants and 
Jews, who at that time will be as greatly noted for their 
rapacity as was the degenerated Christian institution of 
the sixth seal. 

J68 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHURCH 

The reformation will meet with limited success among 
the Protestants, but will result in a reformed branch of 
Jews, who will keep up the reformation during the era of 
the great international war (Zech. 1 : 12). The Antichrist 
Jews will fall in those wars. The power of Antichrist will 
afterward wage an unrelenting persecution against the 
Protestants and older type of Jews ; and near the close of 
the sixth trumpet those two renowned religious bodies will 
be destroyed. The Antichrists will then labor to destroy 
the two reformed bodies of Jews and Christians, and will 
succeed in silencing them for a short time; after which 
there will be a glorious revival of those two gospel powers. 
The Millennial era will begin soon after that revival. A 
thousand years of Christian government and a short era of 
Antichrist will be succeeded by another glorious gospel era. 
Little has been revealed of those two gospel eras, and j^et 
enough to show that glorious possibilities are in store for 
the people of God. 



169 



THE HISTORIC MEAXIXG OF PEOPHECY 



Outline of the Seven Trumpets 

AND OF THE MILLENNIAL AND SaBBATIC ERAS. 

First Trumpet, J^O Years. 

The Lion Messiah. The era noted for a fifteen years' 
continental war and a thirteen years' persecution. 

Second Trumpet, 80 Years. 

The Bear Messiah. First thirty years noted for great 
naval wars. Overthrow of the Papal power. Succeeding 
forty years, peace. Last ten years, persecution. Jews emi- 
grate to the far East in the first and second trumpets. 

Third Trumpet, 890 Years. 

The Leopard Messiah and Wormwood Apostate. The 
era noted for the rise of many new sects. Corruptions and 
oppressions of the Jews. Eapid spread of the apostasy. De- 
cline of the reformed Christian institution. Wars between 
the two Antichrist powers, the North and the South. 
Fourfold schism of the old Antichrists. The four branches 
ucite. The last ten years noted for a visitation of divine 
judgment upon the Wormwood Antichrists. Tenfold 
schism of the old Antichrists. The Little Horn. 

Fourth Trumpet, JfO Years. 

The Iron Messiah. The ten Antichrist branches unite. 
Beginning of the Great Eeformation. The Little Horn 
kills the Iron Messiah. End of the early reformed Chris- 
tian institution. 

Fifth Trumpet, 150 Years. 

The Dragon Messiah. Jews deported to South Amer- 
ica. First twenty-one years noted for the Great Contro- 
versy. First one hundred and twenty years noted for the 
rise of Anarchy. Last thirty years noted for the overthrow 
of the power of Anarchy and for the Jews' league with 
the old Antichrists. 

170 



GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHURCH 

Sixth Trumpet, 360 Years, 

The Blasphemous Messiah. Anarchists war seventy 
years with Jews, Protestants, and old Antichrists. Fall of 
the old Antichrist power and of Protestantism. Thirty 
years of reformation labors. Fourteen years of interna- 
tional trouble. Seventy years of international wars. An- 
archists league with the old Antichrists. Progress of the 
Reformation. End of Protestantism. Seven years of per- 
secution. 

The Messianic Year, 
Noted for the proclamation of the True Messiah. 

Seventh Trumpet, SO Years, 

The rival Antichrist Messiahs. The fall of Anarchy. 
Battle of Har-Magedon. Execution of the two Antichrist 
Messiahs. 

The Millennial Era, 1,000 Years, 

Distinguished for the reign of the True Messiah. 
TJnion of Messianic Christians and Reformed Messianic 
Jews. End of the old Antichrist power the thirtieth year 
of the Millennial era. First Millennial Messianic era. 
Military Antichrists and Mosaic Jews go to the far East. 
End of the power of Anarchy the seventy-fifth year of the 
Millennial era. Second Millennial Messianic era. The 
Eastern Jews flourish. A Messianic Jewish reformation. 
An era of x\ntichrist. A Theocratic reformation. Inter- 
national agitations. 

Post-Millennial Era, 1^0 Years, 

The Post-Millennial Dragon Messiah. International 
wars in the East. The Dragon^s defeat and execution. 

Sabbatic Era, 76^ Years, 

An International Judgment era. Consolidation of 
Jews and Christians. A universal Theocracy established. 

171 



CHAPTEE X 

The False Messiah 

Prophecy foretells the coming of Antichrist^, and also 
the coming of the false Messiah. Antichrist has come^ and 
has assumed Messianic prerogatives from the beginning; 
but the Antichrist institution has not yet developed the 
false Messiah. Two things are necessary in order that 
such a circumstance can take place. One is the universal 
spread of the Antichrist institution, and the other is the 
general recognition by the powers that be, of the Messianic 
claims of the false Messiah. 

The power of Antichrist w^ill assert Messianic authority 
in the coming 1,260-year cj^cle; but an Antichrist Messiah 
will not be created for one hundred and sixty-nine years 
after the beginning of that era, which will be at the be- 
ginning of the first trumpet. The era of the seven trum- 
pets will therefore last ten hundred and ninety-one years. 
The seven trumpets are seven successive eras of the false 
Messiah. John^s enigma of the Woman and the Beast 
shows that there will be seven of those Messianic kings, 
and an eighth Avho is also included within that era. Dan- 
iel's vision of the four Beasts is an enigina of the four 
false Messiahs who shall rise in the first four trumpets 
John describes the three successive false Messiahs who 
shall rise in the last three trumpets. The Dragon of 
John's revelation is the false Messiah of the fifth trum- 

172 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

pet. The Beast that shall take the Dragon's seat is the 
false Messiah of the sixth trumpet. The Woman and the 
scarlet-colored Beast together typify the two Messianic 
kings of the seventh trumpet. 

Daniel's first Beast, the lion with eagle wings, is the 
first false Messiah, whose dominion will be eagle-winged 
America. He w^ill afterward have his wings cropped, or 
be deprived of his Messianic dominions, and will have a 
man's heart given to him, or be deprived of his Messianic 
office. Xo prophetic description is given of the era of the 
Lion Messiah, such as Isaiah and Joel and John give of 
the era of Antichrist desolations of the si^th seal; but 
there are several circumstantial suggestions and prophetic 
hints bearing upon that time. Isaiah, speaking of the deso- 
lations of the sixth seal, says, ^'But yet in it shall be a 
tenth, and it shall return, and shall be burnt up." That 
return of prosperity w^ill be in the sealing period of John ; 
but the hostilities of Antichrist will only be restrained 
during that time and will afterward be renewed again. 
This makes it appear that, altho there shall be a lengthy 
interval of peace between the two eras of hostility, the po- 
litical circumstances will not be materially changed, and 
the way will be open for another Antichrist uprising. 

It has been demonstrated that an Antichrist party will 
begin to form in one of the four American governments, 
and will at length take the government into their own 
hands; and then the tribulations of the sixth seal will be- 
gin. The barbarities of those times will be restrained by 
an international interference; but it will not guarantee to 
the government the power of self-defense ; and as soon as 
the Antichrist powers shall succeed in freeing themselves 
of that restraint they will again prepare to carry out their 
purpose of setting up a Messianic king. In the tribula- 
tions of the sixth seal cities will be waste without inhabit- 

173 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

ant, and houses without man, and the land will become 
utterly waste. That will be Antichrist's preparation for 
setting up a Messiah; we now come to the beginning of 
his kingdom. 

John's prophetic hints of the opening circumstances of 
the silent half hour which prefaces the ushering in of the 
first trumpet breathe of the deepest apprehension. The 
Church is at prayer, and the masses of the people are as 
apprehensive as is the Church; for Antichrist's prepara- 
tions for setting up a Messiah will be understood as the 
carrying out of a purpose to establish both regal and ec- 
clesiastical authority, and that it will involve a revolution. 
The Antichrist Messiah is proclaimed, and both sides take 
up arms. John describes the general effects of the war: 

^^Tlie first angel sounded; and there followed hail and 
fire mingled with blood, and they were cast upon the earth ; 
and the third part of the earth was burnt up, and the 
third part of the trees was burnt up, and all green grass 
was burnt up." It will be a protracted war, and many a 
hard battle will undoubtedly be fought before the conflict 
shall end. 

A seventy weeks' Messianic era will begin at the close 
of the first twenty years of the first trumpet. It will be 
four hundred and ninety years from that time until the 
false Messiah shall exercise universal authority; and since 
that is the Messianic era of the false Messiah, it follows 
that the Antichrists will come off victorious. The false 
Messiah will then take his seat and open up a persecution. 
A careful study of the prophetic hints and suggestions re- 
lating to that time will enable us to get a general outline 
of the circumstances of that time of the era of the great 
tribulation, when it shall be necessary to shorten the day« 
for the sake of the elect; for our Lord mentioned those 
times in connection with the era of the false Messiahs. 

174 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

The prophetic cliarade of Chrisf s walk upon the sea 
throws a great deal of light upon the circumstances of that 
perilous period of persecution in the first trumpet above 
referred to. 

The disciples w^ere on the storm-tossed sea — the Church 
as a non-political or outside institution in its relation to 
the government, suffering in the storms of an Antichrist 
persecution. They were out in the midst of the sea, and 
the storm was at its height — the persecution will be at its 
severest point. The Lord came to them walking upon the 
water — deliverance will com.e from an unexpected quarter. • 
It was in the beginning of the fourth watch-^that would 
answer to something less than the last five years of the 
first trumpet, which is the last quarter of a twenty years^ 
night, to which that persecution belongs. But the eighteen- 
year period of Isaiah^s dial enigma appears to be the ex- 
treme prophetic limit of a period of persecution; and one- 
fourth of eighteen is four and a half, which is the limit 
of the period of shortening. It begins just where the 
charade represents it, a little after the beginning of the 
last quarter of the last twenty years of the first trumpet. 
That is the time when that persecution shall end, whicli 
will be in the thirty-sixth year of the first trumpet, and 
will be limited to thirteen and a half years, dating from 
the twenty-second year of the first trumpet. A seven 
years^ interval, the false Messiah^s inauguration era, would 
intervene between the war and the persecution, and w^ould 
make the limit of the war equal to fifteen 3^ears. 

The Lion Messiah will first reduce the leading Ameri- 
can government : that will be the outcome of the fifteen 
years^ war. He will then receive the general recognition 
of the Antichrist authorities thruout America in general, 
both north and south, the ^^two wings^^ of the Eagle. There 
is no prophetic suggestion that his dominion will extend 

17§ 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

beyond America, which favors the probability of the auton- 
omy of the American branch of Antichrist. 

Some prophetic suggestions favor the probability that 
the Bear Messiah will be a European. In Christ^s walk 
across the sea He seemed to represent both the true and 
the false Messiah. Tlie disciples were terrified, and He 
made as tho He would pass by them. That is the rival 
Antichrist coming from Europe, to the dismay of the 
Church in America; but His coming to depose the Lion 
Messiah will bring them relief. Now compare those sug- 
gestions with Daniel 8 : 25, where it is said that '^he [the 
Lion Messiah] shall be broken without hand;^^ that is, 
without forcible restraint. The rival European will then 
become the candidate for the Messianic throne, as it ap- 
pears that he will be barely able to obtain the office in the 
^^one dominion,^^ Americans not being favorable to Euro- 
pean dominion. He will enter upon his Messianic adminis- 
tration at the end of the four and a half years' interval 
of peace, or the time that will elapse after the Lion Mes- 
siah shall be deposed. 

It will then become apparent that if America is to be 
dominated by Antichrist rule, Europe also will suffer; for 
the Antichrist claims the right of universal supremacy. 
Preparations for resistance will therefore begin at once; 
and in due time armed fleets will sail for America to assist 
in putting down Antichrist rule. The other side will be 
no less active, and a great naval conflict will begin, such 
as the world never saw before. It will last thirty years, 
twice as long as the Antichrist war of the first trumpet; 
for the forty years' wilderness period (of Amos), plus the 
ten years' persecution (of John's revelation) wirh which 
the second trumpet shall end, are equal to fifty, and fifty 
from eighty leaves thirty, as the limit of the war from the 
beginning of the second trumpet. John is the only 

176 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

prophet who gives a prophetic report of that protracted 
naval conflict ; and he sums np results in very few words : 
"The third part of the sea became blood; and there died 
the third part of the creatures that were in the sea, even 
they that had life; and the third part of the ships was 
detroyed/' 

That war will be a non-political international war, to 
settle the question of the Pope's ecclesiastical supremacy 
over the government, and to decide what shall be the re- 
lation of the existing Antichrist institution to the State, 
not only in America, but with regard to the governments 
of the world in general. The nations of Europe and Amer- 
ica will take up arms, to settle at the mouth of the can- 
non a question that has been before the world ever since 
the trouble that led to the thirty years^ war of Europe. 
That question was laid upon the table in the year of our 
Lord 1648; and after remaining unsettled for 693 years, it 
will be taken up again; and after another thirty years' 
war the question will be finally and forever settled, "And a 
great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea." 
The old form of Antichrist will thenceforth figure as an 
ecclesiastical power whose sphere is outside of the do- 
minion of the government. 

The Leopard that shall succeed the Bear after the great 
naval war has four heads, and four wings of a fowl. We 
shall follow DaniePs own interpretation of his enigma. 
The Leopard Messiah is the mighty king that shall "rule 
with great dominion, and do according to his will. And 
when he shall stand up his kingdom shall be broken, and 
divided toward the four winds of heaven; but not to his 
posterity, nor according to his dominion wherewith he 
ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for 
others beside these.'' 

It seems apparent that the plucking up of the kingdom 
12 177 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

does not mean the deposing of the false Messiah^ but the 
breaking up of the Antichrist institution. The enigma 
of the Bear with three ribs between his teeth shows that 
three factions will have their origin under his administra- 
tion^ and to the three there will be added a later sect. 
But the Leopard^s posterity (his adherents) will not be 
included within any of the four factions^ and that fac- 
tional breaking up will occur at the close of the Leopard 
Messiah's administration^ which probably means after his 
death. There will tJien be four independent branches, each 
with a head of its own; and in process of time those four 
branches will unite. 

The four wings of a fowl are hard to interpret. It 
seems apparent that the false Messiah's seat will be in 
America until the fifth trumpet; and at present there is 
no geographical fowl that answers to the enigma, neither 
in Europe nor America. But the time is long, and there 
are to be two important revolutions; and the conditions 
of the enigma may be met in the four famous dominions 
of the divided government of America. 

After the union of the four Antichrist branches, an- 
other Antichrist power, the king of the South, will en- 
deavor to adjust amicable relations with them, but will 
not succeed; and from that time forth there will be a 
great deal of warring between those two powers. Daniel 
introduces that later form of Antichrist without giving 
any account of its origin; because his purpose is to show 
the rise and progress of the leading Antichrist institution 
from Avhich the false Messiahs shall proceed; and he men- 
tions the other Antichrist powers only in their relations 
with the old power. 

The king of the South is the second form of Anti- 
christ, founded by the Wormwood apostate, and flourishing 
in South America during the third trumpet, when they 

178 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

shall spread very rapidly and grow very strong until they 
shall become a rival of the old power. That rival Anti- 
christ and the factional disturbances of the old power 
will make it very difficult for a Messianic aspirant to gain 
the throne; and it will be a long time after the inaugu- 
ration of the Leopard Messiah before another Antichrist 
Messiah shall come into power. 

The sending of ambassadors by sea, as mentioned by 
Isaiah, is to be understood as an effort to heal those fac- 
tional disturbances. About that time, and probably co- 
incident with the sending of the ambassadors, a remark- 
able person of great originality and of a strong and reso- 
lute character will succeed in gaining the Messianic 
throne. It seems apparent that the movement in creating 
a Messiah at that time will be intended to prevent the 
breaking up of the institution, such as before occurred after 
the administration of the Leopard Messiah; and that it 
will be an effort to avert such a disaster by means of a 
strong Messianic administration. The resolute king will 
succeed in uniting the ten factions; but so great will be 
his tyranny that his institution will not prosper under hi;^ 
iron rule. In the language of Isaiah: ^^The waters shall 
fail from the sea, and the river [the old power] shall be- 
come dry, and the rivers [the various branches] shall be- 
come foul; the streams of Egypt shall be diminished and 
dried up. The reeds and flags shall wither away. The 
meadows . . . the fishers . . .^^ The old Anti- 
christ institution will go into a rapid decline. 

The Antichrists of the old power will be reduced to 
such an extremity that ^^they shall cry unto Jehovah be- 
cause of the oppressors, and He shall send them a Savior 
and a Defender, and shall deliver them.^^ The Anarchists 
also will be violently opposed to the Iron Messiah, and will 
have an able leader who will be more than a match for 

179 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

him. Daniel eays^ '^I beheld even till the beast was slain, 
and his body destroyed, and he was given to be burned 
with fire/^ The rising Antichrist will cause the false 
Messiah to be put to death, probably burned at the stake. 
He will also take away the dominion of the three pre- 
ceding Antichrist Messiahs (by setting aside their author- 
ity), tho "their lives will be prolonged for a season and 
a time,^^ in their adherents. 

The amicable relations between the two older Antichrist 
powers after their establishment of intercommunion, will 
enable one of the apostate body to ingratiate himself into 
the favor of the old power, even to the extent of becoming 
their Messiah. Daniel describes him as "a contemptible 
person to whom they had not given the honor of the 
kingdom: but he shall come in time of security, and ob- 
tain the kingdom by flatteries.^^ He will then sweep away 
all opposition with a flood of arms. 

John describes that Antichrist as "a great red dragon, 
having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his heads 
seven diadems. And his tail draweth the third part of 
the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth.^^ 
Daniel also mentions the apostasy he shall cause by carry- 
ing away "the prince of the covenant.^^ It appears to be 
the end of the partial reformation of the old power that 
shall take place during the reign of the Iron Messiah. The 
Diagon will then encounter Prince Michael, the leader of 
the elect body in the great Controversy, and will be de- 
feated. He will then attempt to carry away the elect by 
a flood, not of arms, but proceeding out of his mouth, 
in volumes of Antichrist literature. 

The Dragon is the first of the three false Messiahs men- 
tioned by Daniel who are to have their seat in Persia. 
The reason for the removal of the seat of the false Mes- 
siah from America to Great Britain (the Persia of proph- 

180 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

ecy) is apparent from the circumstances of the first four 
trumpets. The loss of Antichrist's political dominion in 
the second trumpet will be followed by the rise of a rival 
Antichrist power in the third trumpet, whose stronghold in 
South America will be the nursery of a later and more for- 
midable Antichrist rival in the rising power of Anarchy in 
the fourth trumpet; and the Dragon will probably have 
a fear of sharing the fate of the Iron Messiah. 

^'^After the league made with him/^ says Daniel, "he 
shall work deceitfully; for he shall come up, and shall be- 
come strong with a few people. In time of security shall 
he come upon the fattest places of the province : and he 
shall do that which his fathers have not done, nor his 
f ather^s fathers : he shall scatter among them the prey, and 
spoil, and substance/^ He will take from his wealthiest 
subjects to give to his votaries, in a way that has had no 
precedent in the history of his institution. 

The great international war of South America belongs 
to the era of the Dragon Messiah of the fifth trumpet; 
but it will be after the time of his personal administration. 
The war will begin one hundred and twenty years after 
the beginning of his reign ; and no one often lives in office 
for more than half a centur3^ There will therefore be an 
interregnum in the Messianic office during the seventy-year 
period of the power of Anarch)^ and during the thirty 
years^ war that shall follow, owing to the difficulty of cre- 
ating a Messiah against the opposition of the Anarchists. 

The terrible war that shall be waged against the Anar- 
chists will undoubtedly be connected with the aim of set- 
ting up a Messiah ; for after the breaking up of the anarch- 
istic stronghold the old Antichrists will put forth a Mes- 
sianic candidate. The Anarchists at that time will be of 
so much importance that it will be no easy matter to set 
aside their authority. The Dragon had to retire before 

181 



THE HISTOEIC MEAXIXG OF PEOPHECY 

them from America and take his seat in Great Britain; 
and after a century and a half of growth they will be so 
strong, even after a thirty years' war, as to dare to op- 
pose the Messianic aspirant across the sea. After ascer- 
taining their numerical strength to be two hundred mil- 
lions, they will rouse to opposition in every quarter of the 
world against the creation of a new Messiah. 

For a time the Messianic candidate will seem to be de- 
feated, but will at length obtain his purpose, and his 
^'deathstroke'^ will be healed. His success in gaining the 
Messianic throne will probably be due to the support he 
will get from the Jews, who will have entered into a treaty 
with the old power of Antichrist at the time of the second 
campaign of the South American war. In consequence of 
the Jews giving their support to the Antichrist Messiah, 
the Anarchists will declare war against them in the ninth 
year of his reign ; and in the following year they will declare 
war against the Antichrist Messiah. The old Antichrists, 
after violating their treaty with the Jews, and leaving 
them to take care of themselves, will yet find their assail- 
ants to be more than a match for them; for the nations 
who before combined for the overthrow of Anarchy will 
not care to enter into a second conflict with so powerful 
a foe. 

That will be the beginning of a hard time for the false 
Messiah. For forty years he will sustain his ^^''authority 
over every tribe and people and nation and tongue,^' at 
the mouth of the cannon and point of the bayonet; but 
the sword of the king of Babylon will at last prevail, ^^and 
Pharaoh will groan before him with the groaning of a 
deadly wounded man.'' The false Messiah's dominions in 
America will be lost. (See the 29th and 30th chapters of 
Ezekiel.) He will be the last Messiah to reign over the 
old Antichrist power (Ezek. 30: 13). 

18? 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

After the Anarchists shall take up arms against the 
Jews and old Antichrists^ the Protestants will look upon it 
as a favorable opportunity for them to set up claims as a 
non-political theocratic power; but the Anarcliists will 
promptly declare war against them. It will be in the 
eleventh year of the false Messiah, so that there will be a 
triple engagement, beginning in the ninth, tenth, and 
eleventh years of the sixth trumpet. The war against the 
Protestants will continue for seventy years (Isa. 23: 15), 
ending thirty years after the old Antichrists shall be de- 
feated. After breaking the power of the Protestants, the 
Anarchists will enter upon an evangelistic crusade to gather 
the scattered flock of the old Antichrists into their own 
fold; and all who shall choose to cling to the old institu- 
tion will go to Italy, the place of their origin, to escape 
from persecution. 

After that evangelistic crusade the Anarchists, embold- 
ened by their successes, will make an effort to set up an 
international system of government; but the measure will 
meet with armed resistance from the governments in gen- 
eral. That ^^evil will go forth from nation to nation, and 
will raise up a great tempest from the uttermost parts of 
the earth.^^ Eor seventy years from the 125th year of the 
sixth trumpet the war will rage; and every nation will be 
involved, from pole to pole, and from sea to sea, as the 
winecup of fury shall pass around until six-sevenths of 
the male population able to carry arms shall be slain and 
the bodies and bones of the dead lying scattered upon the 
face of the earth. 

As the outcome of their efforts, the Anarchists will 
fail single-handed to set up an international system of 
Anarchy. They will afterward pursue a policy similar to 
that of the old Antichrists when they made a league with, 
their rivals at the beginning of the fifth trumpet and rec- 

183 - 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

ognized the Dragon as their Messiah; and the Anarchists 
will find similar reasons for making a treaty with the 
old power^ in order to strengthen their cause. They will 
enter into a league with the old Antichrist power^ whose 
Messianic claims they so hotly opposed for four hundred 
years; and will recognize the Blasphemous Messiah, against 
whom they warred so vigorously during his administration. 
The two allied powere will at last succeed in introducing 
a modified international sj^stem of Anarclw, by which the 
old Antichrist system will be recognized as the State re- 
ligion. The false Messiah's image or statue will be set 
up for recognition by an international edict, and the old 
Antichrist power will be introduced into the ' political 
world again. 

It is difficult to say just when that system of Anarchy 
will be set up. The seventy-year period of international 
wars will end in the 195th year of the sixth trumpet, and 
165 }^ears before the end .of that era. After the protracted 
ravages of war and the general breaking up of the govern- 
ments it will require many years to accomplish their recon- 
struction. An armistice will probably be agreed upon, in 
order to arrange for an international treaty; and after the 
treaty between the two Antichrist powers the world powers 
will feel compelled to make terms with them, and every 
nation on the face of the earth will enter into that treaty. 

The power of Anarchy will then enter upon a new era, 
and their recognition of the Antichrist Messiah will give 
to their institution a Messianic turn. They will also set 
up an international system of monopoly by requiring the 
seal of the false Messiah to be used as the legal brand in 
all commercial transactions. Their professed opposition 
to tyranny will make open persecution undesirable; yet 
they will seek to ^Vear out the saints of the Most High/'' 
The image of the false Messiah will be used as their oracle, 

184 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

to advise that all shall be killed who will not recognize the 
State religion by paying homage to the "image of the 
Beast.'' 

Those assaults will be aimed chiefly against the Protes- 
tant people, whose importance in the earlier international 
wars will draw upon them the malevolence of the Anti- 
christs. After persecuting the Protestants for a century 
and a half, or until their institutions shall be broken up, 
the Anarchists will put forth a Messianic candidate, who 
will be a pretended prophet and miracle worker. The two 
allied powers will require- their respective votaries each to 
Avear a brand upon his forehead or upon his right hand, 
ostensibly for business advantages, the old Antichrists 
bearing the brand of their Messiah, and the Anarchists a 
mystical number of the false Prophet. 

The Antichrists will then wage a fierce persecution 
against the Messianic Christians and reformed Jews dur- 
ing the last seven years of the sixth trumpet. It will in- 
terpret the assassination mentioned by Zechariah, "Smite 
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered; and I will 
turn my hand upon the little ones.^^ The pastors of the 
Church will be stricken down, leaving their people in a 
scattered condition; and the people will then be attacked 
to compel them to desert their cause. After such persecu- 
tions shall continue for three years and a half, the two 
allied Antichrist powers will endeavor to crush the Church 
by a single blow. 

Like the Saint Bartholomew massacre, it will be a se- 
cret conspiracy for a wholesale assassination. The dark 
plot will be carried out, and there is no reason to doubt 
that many thousands of Jews and Christians will be slain. 
The Antichrists will then hold a jubilee over their victory. 
For three years and a half after that assault the Church 
will be silenced, no one daring publicly to undertake any 

185 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

gospel work^ nor to offer any remonstrance against the 
enormities of the Satanic institution. The Messianic 
claims of the false Prophet will receive general recogni- 
tion, and at no other time will the world seem so fully 
under the dominion of Antichrist. The false Prophet will 
be crowned and inaugurated as the world's Messiah, and 
his system universally recognized as the State religion. 
The world's seventh Antichrist Messiah will come into 
office with a full tide of power in his favor. 

But the false Prophet's tranquillity will soon be inter- 
rupted. The proclamation of the True Messiah and the 
revival of the Church occur so near the beginning of the 
seventh trumpet^ when the false Prophet shall enter upon 
his Messianic administration, that the three circumstances 
must be very near together, if not simultaneous. The 
seven years' persecution ends with the odd jesiY, and is the 
last of the era of the Antichrist alliance that will end in 
setting up a Messiah at the head of the Anarchists. The 
object of the persecution will be to put down all opposi- 
tion, that the false Messiah may receive universal recog- 
nition. But a seven years' counter-alliance begins where 
the other ends, at the close of the odd year. That counter- 
alliance will be the secret withdrawal of the old Antichrists 
from the league, for the purpose of setting up a Messiah 
of their own. 

In order to carry their point they will undertake one 
of the shrewdest of artifices. Not daring to set up a Messi- 
anic candidate of their own choice against the great An- 
archist, they will conceive the idea of resurrecting or re- 
incarnating or in some way reproducing their latest Mes- 
siah, who will have been dead about three hundred years, 
but whose authority at that time will be recognized by the 
Antichrist powers in general and by the powers of the 

186 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

world. Could such a person establish his claim^ the old 
Antichrist power could take the dominion of the world 
and exercise her Messianic authority over both Church and 
State. 

The counter-alliance will be conducted with the utmost 
secrec3^ In the meantime a great international xlntichrisi 
convention will be arranged^ for the purpose of opposing 
the rising power of the Church and sustaining the false 
Messiah. They will convene in the fourth year of the sev- 
enth trumpet^ which will be the middle year of the con- 
spiracy. The trend of the convention Avill be fair to the 
false Prophet^s prospects^ when, lo ! at the opportune mo- 
ment the rival Antichrist impostor will appear and claim 
the right to exercise in person the Messianic authority 
which has been accorded to him by the entire Antichrist 
fraternity, and by the powers of the world, who worshiped 
his image and made his S5"stem the State religion. 

The proceedings of the convention will take a sudden 
turn; and the false Prophet will be in a dilemma, having 
to choose between the alternatives of giving up his Messi- 
anic claims or of setting aside the claims of his rival, which 
might be more easily said than done. Great excitement 
will follow, an agitation such as the world never saw be- 
fore. The Anarchists will refuse to recognize the rival im- 
postor, altho he will himself be a professed Anarchist; and 
the Dragon party will take a neutral position, leaving the 
two rival powers to settle the matter. The political powers 
will likewise refuse to take part in a contest that would 
have to be settled by force of arms and involve them in 
an international war. The old power will crown their 
Messiah and will also confer regal authority upon the 
'^'ten horns,^^ or branches of their institution, such as they 
exercised under liis Messianic predecessor. They will then 

187 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

determine to strike a death-dealing blow against the rival 
Antichrist power, to which thej^ had in former years been 
forced to succumb. 

A second assassination will be planned, the assault this 
time to be made upon the power that led in the assassi- 
nation of the Cliurch; and this second conspiracy will be 
conducted with even greater secrecy than was the first. 
The brand of the false Prophet that each of his followers 
shall bear will be a ready means of identification. There 
will be a general assault upon the Anarchists, and every 
one who shall be found bearing their brand will be slain. 

That Antichrist massacre will undoubtedly far exceed 
the assassination of the Clmrch, for the reason already 
given, that the victims will be marked for slaughter, each 
of the contending parties bearing their respective brand. 
The cup tJiat they mingled to others shall be mingled to 
them double; and the assassinators will add burning to 
murder ^^and she shall be utterly burned with fire.^^ It is 
the hour of judgment for Babylon, the vengeance due for 
the assassination of the Church, and the sudden downfall 
of a gigantic Antichrist power. John's requiem of Baby- 
lon represents her rich merchants as weeping and mourn- 
ing, while the saints and apostles rejoice. The glory of 
Babylon will have ended; and like a great millstone cast 
into the sea will the great international system of Anarchy 
sink, to rise no more. 

After the massacre the two rival Messiahs will take up 
arms against each other. Both will be professed Anarch- 
ists, tho heading different institutions; and neither will 
have any regard for law or gospel, nor hold themselves ac- 
countable for any of their enormities. They will com- 
mand two great armies of outlaws and carry on an exten- 
sive guerilla warfare. That war is one of the features of 
the winepress period that can better be told when known; 

188 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

but the great confusion described by John, when ^^every 
island fled away, and the mountains were not found ;'^ and 
the terrible cannonade that followed, "great hail about the 
weight of a talent coming down out of heaven/^ is to be 
interpreted in some fierce engagements. 

The old Antichrist power will come off victorious and 
compel a compromise. The false Prophet will yield up 
his Messianic authority in favor of his rival, who in re- 
turn will recognize him as his Prophet. The two rivals 
will become colleagues again, and the defeated Anarchist 
will resume his former role of prophet and miracle worker 
before the false Messiah. The two Antichrist institutions 
will renew their former amicable relations and will again 
succeed in gaining the powers of the world in their behalf. 
They will then raise armies for an international war, for 
the purpose of accomplishing the overthrow of the Church. 

This is the point at which John introduces those two 
Antichrists : "And I saw the beast, and the kings of the 
earth, and his armies, gathered together to make war 
against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army. 
And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet 
that wrought the signs in his sight wherewith he deceived 
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them 
that worshiped his image : they twain were cast alive into 
the lake of fire that burnetii with brimstone: and the rest 
were killed with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, 
even the sword which came forth out of his mouth; and 
all the birds were filled with their flesh.'^ The false Mes- 
siah and his colleague will be taken and executed in the 
manner described by John. That will end the era of the 
false Messiahs, and will probably be the closing event of 
the seventh trumpet. 

There will then be a thousand years of true Messianic 
rule; while the one remaining Antichrist power shall be 

189 



THE HISTORIC MEANIJs^G OF PEOPHECY 

building up their institutions in the far East. By the end 
of that lengthy era of gospel power the era of Antichrist 
tribulations will be a thing of the remote past, and the 
nations of the East will lose their vigilance. Antichrist 
will again seek to gain the favor of the governments, and 
the binding laws against Antichrist and Anarchy will be 
repealed. Antichrist then finding himself at liberty, will 
prepare to set up an international king, or Messiah. 

Kahum speaks of that advent of Satan as his last. 
'^Affliction shall not rise up a second time. . . . And 
Jehovah hath given commandment concerning thee that 
no more of thy name be sown.^^ That Antichrist scourge 
Avill be the last, and the Antichrist institution will not be 
perpetuated. The prophet describes that Satanic Messiah 
as "he that dasheth in pieces,^^ which is a characteristic 
description of all false Messiahs, and the institution he de- 
scribes as being full of lies and rapine and prey. He also 
describes features of civilization that are twenty-five cen- 
turies off from the close of the nineteenth century of the 
Christian era. The rushing to and fro of the chariots in 
the broadways, that appear like torches and run like light- 
ning, sounds like an exaggerated description of our street- 
cars of the present day. The valiant men of the false Mes- 
siah are said to be clothed in scarlet. Chapter 3:2, 3, de- 
scribes a force of cavalry: "Prancing horses, and the flash- 
ing swoid, and the glittering spear, and a multitude of 
slain, and a great heap of corpses, they stumble upon their 
corpses.'^ There will be a terrible and a bloody war. 

We learn from EzekieFs account that the false Messiah 
will raise a tremendous force from Northern Africa and 
Wesitern Asia and Eastern Europe, and will invade Pales- 
tine, and move on to besiege Jerusalem. His probable 
purpose will be to take the city with an overpowering force 
without destroying it, and then make it his seat of power. 

190 



THE FALSE MESSIAH 

It will then become apparent that Antichrist will purpose 
to finish his work in a terrible massacre ,like that of the 
sixth trumpet, and enrich himself with the spoils of the 
slain; but before his purpose can be carried out, a vol- 
canic storm will destroy his army, and the Jews will then 
take up arms against their foes. The nations will remain 
neutral, leaving the Jews to take care of themselves (Isa, 
63:3-6). But they will be victorious, and the forces of 
Antichrist will be compelled to entrench themselves in 
their strongholds (If ahum 3:11). The Jews will suc- 
ceed in taking their last defense, and the power of their 
enemies will be utterly shattered. All the people will clap 
their hands over their defeat (Xahum 3: 19). The false 
Messiah will also be taken and executed, as were the two 
false Messiahs of the seventh trumpet. 

Ezekiel states that Antichrist^s weapons will furnish all 
the wood that will be used for fuel for seven years. It 
shows what w^ill be the military character of those late 
Antichrists, and what immense preparations will be made 
for the wars that shall be fought in that '^^little time'^ of 
the last Antichrist Messiah. So great will be the slaugh- 
ter that it will take forces of men of continual employ- 
ment seven j^ears to bury the dead. The final victory over 
the world^s last Antichrist foe will be the greatest the 
Avorld shall ever see till death itself shall be swallowed up 
in victory. 

Following the laws of prophecy, and the epochs that 
are given in the Bible, the forty years^ post-Millennial era 
of the last Antichrist Messiah is outlined as follows: 

Ten years of deception ; the Dragon making an effort 
to put forth his system of Anarchy, in preference to an 
International Theocracy. A seven-year period of inaugu- 
ration; the Satanic candidate for the international leader- 
ship seeking to gain the recognition of the powers of the 

191 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

world. Fifteen years of international wars, extending to 
all the countries of the East where that form of Antichrist 
shall prevail. Seven years in the destruction of the 
Dragon's military system and implements of war. Seven 
months of the final year gathering up and burying the 
scattered remains of the dead. 



192 



CHAPTEE XI 

Character of the False Messiahs 

In studying the character of the false Messiahs we shall 
also include the Satanic Messianic authorities in general. 

The Lion Messiah of the first trumpet will be the first 
Messianic Antichrist of the era of the false Messiahs. He 
will resume the Satanic program where it was suspended 
after the tribulations of the sixth seal. Daniel describes 
him as ^^a king of fierce countenance and understanding 
hard sentences.^^ He will be a great conqueror^ and also 
a great persecutor. The warlike character of the false 
Messiahs is strikingly illustrated in that Antichrist king. 

The European rival who is shadowed in prophecy as 
the one by whom the Lion Messiah shall be deposed, is to 
be identified with the Bear, and will resume the Satanic 
Messiahship after an interregnum of four and a half years. 
The words, ^^Arise, and devour much flesh/^ appear to have 
a connection with the three ribs of his institution that he 
holds between his teeth. It suggests the rapacious character 
of his administration. He will grind and oppress his sub- 
jects; and that may be the direct cause of his political 
overthrow. 

The Leopard Messiah has his type in an animal that 
is beautiful and attractive, watchful and dangerous. He 
will be a polished man, and a man of ability. He is the 
mighty king who shall ^^rule with great dominion, and do 
according to his will.^^ He will be the first Antichrist Mes- 
13 193 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

siah after the political overthrow of the Antichrist power. 
He will be of an arbitrary disposition; and his despotic 
administration may be the cause that will lead to the pluck- 
ing np of his institution for others not of his spiritual 
posterity. 

The American contemporary of the Leopard Messiah is 
described under a very striking figure. The cornet^ or blaz- 
ing star is a heavenly body which for a time outrivals the 
other stars in glory^ and then departs for other and distant 
fields in space. The ecclesiastical Comet is said to fall 
from heaven to earth. His eccentricities will lead him 
to depart from a religious to a political sphere^ and he will 
become a religious politician. Like the Leopard Messiah^ 
he will be a polished man, one who will shine in the social 
circles, and will be noted for his learning and for his 
intellectual accomplishments. His natural endowments will 
fit him for a high position, and he will wield great influence 
over others. Satan will be able to reach a class of people 
thru the Wormwood apostate that he could not gain di- 
rectly thru the Leopard Messiah. The figurative descrip- 
tion of that Satanic authorit)^, and of the dangerous doc- 
trines he shall teach, agrees well with Paul's description 
of the great delusion that shall come. 

The fourth Beast, the Iron Messiah, will succeed after 
the lengthy era of the Leopard Messiah and Wormwood 
apostate. Daniel describes him as a terrible night monster, 
fierce and destructive, and having great iron teeth and 
nails of brass. He comes under cover of darkness, to break 
in pieces and devour ; and stamps the residue with his feet. 
The four Beasts are said to be diverse one from another; 
but the fourth is diverse from all the Beasts that were 
before him; which may be taken to mean all the preced- 
ing Antichrist kings. He will be a resolute man of striking 
originality; and his success in gaining the Messianic ad- 

194 



CHAEACTER OF THE FALSE MESSIAH 

ministration at the time of the factional breaking up of 
his institution shows that he will be a man of remarkable 
ability. He will unite the ten factions into one body, and 
give to his institution a permanent form. His admin- 
istration will be comparatively short; yet he will tread 
down and devour the whole earth, revealing himself as an 
active as well as a fierce and cruel lord (Dan. 7: 23; Isa. 
19:4). 

The little Horn, or leader of Anarchy, will be a re- 
markable contemporary of the Iron Messiah. That sect 
will come up among the ten horns of Antichrist as a later 
faction about the time when the Messianic candidate shall 
be running for office. The question of creating a new 
Messiah, after an interregnum of about three and a 
half centuries, will be the occasion of their rise. John 
mentions an Antichrist prophetess of the fourth trumpet, 
whom he calls Jezebel because of her adherence to the 
Wormwood doctrines. The second form of Antichrist being 
of anarchistic tendencies, the teachings of the prophetess 
will find their fuller revelation thru her contemporary, the 
apostle of Anarchy. The Anarchists will be violently op- 
posed to any form of regal power; and altho they will be 
but ^^a little Horn^^ when they shall rise, their prowess will 
enable them to "pluck up three of the first horns by the 
roots ;^^ not in the sense of destroying them, but by so setting 
aside their authority that they will only sustain a nominal 
relation with their institution under the Iron Messiah. 

By the united efforts of the ten branches the Messianic 
candidate will be inaugurated into office; but his iron ad- 
ministration will make him more and more unpopular, 
and as a consequence the Anarchists will have a remark- 
ably rapid growth. They will boldly sustain their sentiments 
with "a Yoice of great words,^^ attended with violent per-^ 
secutions, and the Iron Messiah will find a formidable 

195 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

antagonist in the leader of Anarchy. The beginning of 
that period of active opposition is placed by Daniel at 
the time when the ^^Ancient of days shall sit/^ in the era 
of the fourth Beast of his vision; and the Anarchists will 
keep up their hostilities until they shall accomplish the 
burning of the Iron Messiah. 

The determination of the old power to have another 
Messiah at their head at the beginning of the fifth trumpet 
will cause the apostle of Anarchy to organize his followers 
into a separate institution. John describes him as a star 
fallen to the earth. He will be related to the Wormwood 
Star^ and a compromise between the two older forms of 
Antichrist, possessing the deceptive and anarchistic charac- 
teristics of the one, and the Messianic tendencies of the 
other. Claiming to be of the true evangelical succession, 
the only true light, he will strive to obscure all true gospel 
light, and his persecutions will make men weary of their 
lives (Eev. 9:2, 5, 6). Professing to aim for the general 
prosperity, he will be a destroyer, working ruin, and will 
lead an army of destroyers like himself (Eev. 9:11). Such 
will be the rise of Anarchy, under the great apostle of the 
Wormwood Prophetess, after half a century's growth of the 
sect. 

Simultaneous with the rise of the American Anarchists 
will be the advent of the Dragon Messiah. He will be the 
first false Messiah who will hold his seat in Europe, and 
the only Messiah of a different institution that will ever 
be recognized by the old Antichrist power. Daniel describes 
him as a vile and contemptible person, a flatterer and a 
deceitful person, and an extortioner (Dan. 11 : 21-24). He 
will be a great controversialist, and will be distinguished 
as the Antichrist leader in the greatest religious contro- 
versy the world shall ever see. His great literary ability is 
figuratively described by John as a river issuing out of 

196 



CHARACTEE OF THE FALSE MESSIAH 

his mouth, meaning his voluminous writings. He will also 
be a great persecutor, laboring to destroy whom he can 
not subvert (Eev. 12: 13-17). 

The sixth false Messiah rose out of the sea, or came 
out of a non-political institution, as the old power then will 
be, and took the seat of the Dragon in Europe. He is 
described as a mixed character, uniting in himself the 
characteristics of the first four Antichrist Messiahs. He 
was like a leopard, resembling the third false Messiah in 
his general makeup. His feet were as the feet of a bear, 
resembling the second false Messiah in his deportment, and 
his mouth as the mouth of a lion, resembling the first false 
Messiah in his speech. He is called the Beast, which is the 
prophetic title of the fourth false Messiah, whom he re- 
sembles in his character. 

He will possess the Iron Messiah's diplomatic ability, 
and will be able to gain the Messianic throne under great 
difficulties, Tho standing at the head of a non-political 
institution, he will succeed in gaining the recognition of 
the powers of the world in general, who will praise him for 
his prowess. He will open his mouth for blasphemes, and 
make war with the saints of the Most High, and will favor 
captivity and war as the means of carrying out his pur- 
poses (Eev. 13: 10). 

Daniel describes that Blasphemous Messiah as a profane 
person, who shall be violently opposed to the holy covenant, 
and who shall labor to subvert others, seeking to pervert 
them by flatteries. He will also be a great persecutor, 
employing sword and flame and captivity and spoil. He 
will be a great innovator, and will seek to glorify both his 
own ideal of worship and such as shall adhere to his ideas. 
He will also be a noted extortioner, farming out his domin- 
ions ^^for a price^^ among his votaries, and enriching them 
by extorting from others. (See Dan. 11:30-39.) His 

197 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

prowess and diplomatic ability will enable him to sustain' 
his Messianic claims against the opposition of the strongest 
Antichrist power that shall then exist. After losing his 
dominions in America^ and being compelled to retire to 
Ital}^, he will still succeed in sustaining the Messianic 
authority of his institution. 

The widespread influence of the false Messiah will hold 
a check upon the Messianic aspirations of their rivals^ the 
Anarchists ; and notwithstanding the great and widespread 
influence of Anarchy among the political circles^, the An- 
archists will not succeed in gaining the recognition of the 
political powers, without securing the co-operation of the 
old and recognized Messianic Antichrist institution. They 
will not be able even then to put forth a Messianic can- 
didate, until society shall have sufficient time to recover 
from the effects of the great international wars, and to 
become leavened by the mongrel system of the two allied 
Antichrist powers. After a lengthy interregnum of the 
Messianic administration, lasting about three hundred 
years, the Anarchists will prepare to set up a Messiah of 
their own. 

The Anarchistic candidate for the Messianic throne, 
the false Prophet, will be a true ecclesiastical descendant 
of the Jezebel Prophetess, and himself one of the greatest 
deceivers the world shall ever see. He will be a great 
wonder worker, seeking to make himself popular thru his 
pretended miracles. He will manifest his diplomatic dis- 
position by securing in his behalf the co-operation of the 
old Antichrists, and will reveal his murderous character 
by the turn he shall give to his pretended miracles. Thru 
his oracle, the image of the false Messiah, he will issue 
his edict for assassinating the pastors of the Church, and 
later for the wholesale assassination that shall be carried 
out. 

198 



CHARACTEE OF THE FALSE MESSIAH 

The Antichrist rival who shall set up Messianic claims 
against the false Prophet will fully equal him in a politic 
and diplomatic disposition^ and will be even more shrewd 
and crafty than he^ as it appears from his ability to head 
him off and take from him the Messianic throne. He will 
even exceed him in cruelty, dealing to the Anarchists a 
doubly filled cup of assassination and destruction, even 
while he shall himself be a professed Anarchist. He will 
be a ferocious monster, a strong reproduction of the sixth 
false Messiah, whom he shall impersonate. Those two 
travesties of humanity will merit well the terrible execution 
that shall end their infamous career. 

A thousand years after the execution of those two in- 
famous xlntichrist impostors. Dragon the second will ascend 
the Messianic throne at the head of his own institution. 
Xahum describes him as a great drunkard and a vile 
person, a rapacious plunderer, filling his caves with prey 
and his dens with ravin. He will go out as a deceiver, but 
his fierce and murderous disposition will be revealed by 
the terrible war he shall bring upon the nations of the 
East, and by his merciless slaughter of human lives, the 
corpses being literally piled in the wake of his army. He 
will justly merit the fate of the Beast and false Prophet, 
by being cast alive into a lake of fire and brimstone, as 
they were a thousand years before. 



19^ 



CHAPTEK XII 

Antichrist Institutions 

In our study of the false Messiahs we have seen a 
recognized relationship of the various Antichrist author- 
ities^ and a recognized identity of the different Antichrist 
systems. There is a progressive revelation of Satanic 
wickedness in the three Antichrist powers^ which Isaiah 
tersely describes in one sentence: ^^Out of the serpent's 
root shall come forth an adder; and his fruit shall be a 
fiery flying serpent/^ 

The serpent is the old Antichrist institution^ and the 
institution founded by the Wormwood apostate is the adder 
of the serpent^s roots, a radical relationship that will re- 
ceive the mutual recognition of those two Antichrist powers 
four hundred and thirty years after the Wormwood sect 
shall rise, the leader of the apostate Antichrist body then 
becoming the Messianic head of the old Antichrist power. 

The fiery flying serpent is the anarchistic Antichrist 
institution armed with scorpion stings, that shall rise in 
power at the time when the Dragon shall take the Mes- 
sianic throne. That fruit of the adder will afterward rec- 
ognize his relationship to his ecclesiastical grandsire, the 
old Antichrist power, by entering into an alliance with 
them, and recognizing their Messiah. 

While the three Antichrist powers may differ in form, 
they will not differ essentially in their systems nor in their 
characteristics. The old power is undisguised wickedness, 

200 



ANTICHEIST INSTITUTIONS 

and will be noted for cruelty in the future, as in the past. 
The second form of Antichrist is disguised wickedness, 
and will be noted for oppressiveness, deception, and slan- 
der. The third form of Antichrist will have the general 
characteristics of the other two. 

The false Messiahs, like the systems they represent, 
will not differ essentially from each other; but there will 
be several different types. There will be four Messianic 
types of the old form of Antichrist, which are illustrated 
by the four beasts of Daniel. The two later false Messiahs 
of the old stamp will be variations of the fourth beast. 
The Dragon Messiah will be the Messianic type of the 
Wormwood sect, and will give both name and character 
to the second form of Antichrist. The same type will 
reappear at the close of the Millennial era. The false 
Prophet is the Messianic type of Antichrist anarchy, and 
appears but once in his Messianic character. It thus ap- 
pears that there will be six types of Antichrist Messiahs, 
and that the remaining Antichrist authorities will be vari- 
ations of some of those types. 

The false Messiahs, as well as the systems they represent, 
will be a progressive revelation of spiritual wickedness. 
To the fierce, warlike, and persecuting disposition of the 
first false Messiah will be added the oppressiveness of the 
second; the secretive and dangerous disposition of the 
third, with the deceptive and slanderous tendencies of his 
contemporary ; the cruel and arbitrary character of the Iron 
Messiah, with the seductive and immoral traits of the false 
Prophetess, and the scoffing and treacherous disposition of 
the apostle of Anarchy; the hypocrisy and villainy of the 
Dragon Messiah ; the blasphemy of the Dragon's successor ; 
the atheism, idolatry, and false pretensions of the false 
Prophet; the craftiness of his rival; and the vileness and 
drunkenness of the post-Millennial Antichrist Messiah. 

201 



THE mSTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

Each successive Satanic representative will reveal more 
and more fully the nature of Satan^s kingdom, and each 
will duplicate the Satanic features of his predecessors, and 
add to them his own Satanic characteristics. The post- 
Millennial Antichrist Messiah, the final revelation of Satan, 
will therefore be fierce, vile, crafty, treacherous, and op- 
pressive; a hj^pocrite, a villain^ a liar, a slanderer, a scoffer, 
a persecutor, a drunkard, a libertine, a robber, a destroyer, 
an atheist, an idolater, a despot, an anarchist, and a whole- 
sale murderer as the aggregate of his predecessors, and 
even exceeding them. 

It is remarkable that the revelation of spiritual wicked- 
ness steadily progresses thru the lengthy eras of the third 
and sixth trumpets and Millennial era, when the rise of 
false Messiahs during those protracted eras shall be sus- 
pended. Three hundred and ninety years after the rise 
of the third Antichrist Messiah the Iron Messiah will come 
like a storm in the night. Three hundred and sixty years 
after the sixth false Messiah the two Antichrist rivals and 
colleagues will rise, the wickedest and worst that shall ap- 
pear within the era of the seven trumpets. After a thou- 
sand years of the reign of Christ, the final Satanic Messiah 
will appear as the sum of all villainies, the incarnation of 
all the wickedness of the preceding Satanic Messiahs, and 
even worse than his predecessors. 

We shall now study the form of the Antichrist in- 
stitutions and the changes they shall undergo. 

The Antichrist Messiahs will be a Satanic order of 
statesmen, who will occupy '^ihe throne of wickedness,'^ 
and ^^frame mischief by statute.^^ Each successive Satanic 
Messiah will make such innovations as shall suit his ideas ; 
but there will also be some important changes, resulting out 
of the new sects and the schisms they shall produce, and 
the effort to compromise the various and conflicting ideas 

202 



AXTICHEIST INSTITUTIONS 

of those sectSy in order to maintain the unity of the Anti- 
christ institution. 

The first change will result out of the fourfold schism 
that shall take place in the era of the Leopard Messiah, 
the united branches each having a head of its own. The 
three sects that shall originate under the Bear Messiah will 
probably be three of those branches; and there will also 
be a later sect; for according to Daniel the four united 
heads will not be of the Leopard^s posterity^ and it is 
equally true that they will not be the spiritual posterity 
of the Lion nor of the Bear. The breaking up of the old 
Antichrist institution into the four sects will be due to a 
revolution of ideas in those times and to the prevalence of 
anarchistic Wormwood doctrines. The later form of Anti- 
christ that shall come out of the roots of the old power 
will give character to the later branches of the old insti- 
tution. The four united heads will bear no regal author- 
ity, but will give character to their institution; and the 
increased privileges that shall be vested in those heads of 
the four branches will continue for at least three hundred 
years. 

The second change will be caused by the factional break- 
ing up of the old Antichrist institution near the close of 
the third trumpet. There will be ten sects in all^ which 
would probably mean six new sects, and a later sect that 
will come up among the ten but will never be numbered 
with them. That later sect, the little Horn of Anarchy, 
shair pluck up three of the first horns by the roots; and 
those three uprooted horns being the three firsts it is quite 
probable that they will be the three that shall, originate 
under the Bear Messiah. They will be deprived of their 
heads, and their earlier privileges will never be restored 
under the later Antichrist economy, owing to the preva- 
lence of the Anarchists who first caused them to lose their 

203 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

heads. The Iron Messiah will organize those ten horns 
under his dominion; but they wiJl be endued with neither 
heads nor crowns. They will not be permitted to give 
character to their institution, nor to exercise any regal 
authority, owing to the arbitrary disposition of the Iron 
Messiah. 

A third change will be made under the Dragon's econ- 
omy. Seven of the horns will have heads that wear dia- 
dems. They will both give character to their institution 
and bear regal authority. The increased privileges of the 
ten Antichrist branches will probably be due to the Dragon 
Messiah's anarchistic tendencies and his professed opposi- 
tion to tyranny; while on the part of the old pov/er it 
Avill be intended to limit the authority of the Dragon 
Messiah, because of his coming from a different institu- 
tion. But the three uprooted horns will gain no better 
privileges, the Anarchists for some reason being greatly 
opposed to those three sects. 

Under the Dragon's successor the horns will wear the 
diadems, each of the ten branches sharing in the regal 
authority; while the heads bear the names of blasphemy 
or give character to their institution, subject to the teach- 
ings of the Blasphemous Messiah. The Anarchists at that 
time will have organized a separate institution, and the 
three uprooted branches will gain a better recognition, but 
never to the extent of being placed upon an equal footing 
with the other seven branches. The transfer of regal 
authority from the heads to the horns appears to be in- 
tended to give greater authority to the Antichrist Messiah 
over the heads, who give character to the institution. 

The seven heads and ten horns enter into the ecclesi- 
astical form of the old power under the regime of the 
false Prophet; but the horns wear no diadems, and the 
Beast, and not the heads, bears the names of blasphemy, 

204 



ANTICHEIST INSTITUTION'S 

the Anarchist taking upon himself such arbitrary authority 
as was not exercised by his predecessor, the Blasphemous 
Messiah. The Beast of John^s enigma represents the false 
Prophet in his Messianic relation to the old Antichrist 
power ; and the lewd Woman who sits upon the Beast rep- 
resents him in his Messianic relation to his own institution, 
the power of Anarchy of which he is the head. The adher- 
ents of the old power will not be pleased with having their 
own dominion crippled under the arbitrary Anarchist, and 
the rival Messiah of the old type will restore to the ten 
branches the authority they had exercised under their 
former Messiah. 

The second form of Antichrist at the beginning of the 
Millennial era will be an institution of two branches, as 
it is represented in Zechariah^s vision of the two women 
bearing the ephah. The ephah they bear is said to have 
a like resemblance in all the earth; because there will then 
be but the one prevailing form of Antichrist. The ephah 
contains a talent of lead, which is said to be a woman 
sitting in the midst, called Wickedness. The leaden 
Woman typifies the base and deceptive character of the 
Satanic institution, since lead is a base metal and is fre- 
quently employed for counterfeiting purposes. The leaden 
Woman is also suggestive of the Antichrist Prophetess, 
whose teachings will prevail in the two later Antichrist 
institutions. The two mountains of brass represent the 
two branches of the second form of Antichrist. One of 
its divisions will be in Northern Africa, and the other in 
Western Asia. 

We have been studying the form of the Antichrist Mes- 
sianic institutions ; we shall now take a view of their Mes- 
sianic characteristics. 

The first clear prophetic hint we get of the relation 
of the old Antichrist power to the government is in John^s 

205 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

mention of their political overthrow. The ascendency of 
Antichrist over the government is uniformly described as 
the setting up of the abomination of desolation ; and wher- 
ever such an ascendency is gained, ruin speedily follows. 
There will be but one century in all of Antichrist rule, in 
a political capacity, and that will be in the two subperiods 
of the great tribulation; the first being in the beginning 
of the sixth seal and lasting sixty-four and a half years, 
and the second being in the first trumpet and lasting 
thirty-five and a half years. Six hundred and sixty years 
later, which will be at the beginning of the sixth trumpet, 
^^the Beast rose out of the sea,^^ which shows that the old 
Antichrist power will still be a non-political institution. 
Strictly speaking, it is never described in prophecy as a 
political power, but as an ecclesiastical power taking the 
government into its own hands. 

John^s description of the Dragon shows that he will 
assume a political character; but he will invade the heav- 
enly dominion, because he wants his institution to be rec- 
ognized as the only true Church. His political tendencies, 
however, will compel him to take the relation of a political 
x\ntichrist institution; but the Messianic relation of the 
Dragon to the old power of Antichrist will not change the 
political character of the latter, since it will still be at 
sea one hundred and fifty years later. 

The fallen Star, or angel of the abyss, the leader of 
Anarchy at the beginning of the fifth trumpet, can be seen 
to be a near relation of the Wormwood apostate of the third 
trumpet. He will manifest the bigotry of his contempo- 
rary, the Dragon Antichrist, by claiming to be of the only 
true evangelical type. They will be the opposite of all they 
profess, and will strive to wear out with their persecutions 
the very class they shall claim to be. While pretending to 
be favorable to the general prosperity, they will labor to 

206 



AJfTICHEIST INSTITUTIONS 

destroy all social regulations upon which the prosperity 
of the Commonwealth depends. In their final revelation 
John describes them in their true character, under the type 
of a lewd woman drunken with the blood of the saints and 
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 

Tlie four angels that are bound in the Eiver Euphrates 
may be intended as four leading apostles of Anarchy, who 
may be heads of four divisions of the anarchistic institu- 
tion ; and those divisions may be continental divisions, and 
not sects or schisms. The two lamblike horns of the second 
Beast of the sixth trumpet represent the anarchistic idea 
of government. They wear no diadems, and therefore have 
no regal authority, and are practically useless as a means 
of protection or defense. 

The third form of Antichrist will be a form of an- 
arch}^, but it is also viewed prophetically as a political 
power; hence the Anarchist who shall aspire to gain the 
Messianic throne is said to rise out of the earth. In their 
practical tendencies, however, they will be truly anarchistic, 
laboring to destroy both the foundation and structure of 
society. The rival Antichrist who shall rise at the begin- 
ning of the seventh trumpet is said to come up out of the 
abyss. He will be an Anarchist. 

Our observations on the different forms of Antichrist 
lead to the following conclusions: The modifications of 
character that have been observed of some of the false 
Messiahs is always due to an alliance with one of a differ- 
ent institution. The Dragon "stood upon the sand of the 
sea,^^ or sustained a border-line relation between a political 
and non-political institution ; because one of the institutions 
he shall lead will be political and the other nonpolitical. 
The false Prophet came up out of the earth, or political 
dominion of the second form of Antichrist, and spake as a 
Dragon, or resembled them in his teachings. He will lean 

207 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

toward the* second form of Antichrist, whose support he 
will be laboring to get, but can be recognized in his true 
character by the anarchistic number he bears. The rival 
Antichrist who shall rise out of the abyss is an Anarchist, 
and not a true type of the old and non-political power to 
which he belongs. His anarchistic tendencies will be due 
to his relations with the Anarchists, whose support he will 
hope to gain; but he can be recognized as one of the old 
type by his identity with the Blasphemous Messiah and by 
the ten horns of the old type who shall hold regal authority 
with him. 

Of the three forms of Antichrist in their future revela- 
tion, it appears that the first and oldest will be non- 
political, the second will be political, and the third will be 
anarchistic. It has been demonstrated that there will be 
no radical difference in the three Antichrist powers. They 
will only differ in form. That accounts for their flexibility 
in their relations with each other, as is shown in their 
establishment of intercommunion and by the ready adapta- 
tion of their Messiahs to the different Antichrist systems. 
On the whole, they will all be anarchistic ; and that is the 
prophetic view. The two systems that shall first be de- 
stroyed are said to be consigned to the lake of fire, which 
symbolizes the dominion of anarchy and destruction; and 
the remaining system, after being condemned as an an- 
archistic institution, will be destroyed in like manner. 



208 



ANTICHEIST INSTITUTIONS 

Chronological Outline 
OF THE Sixth and Seventh Trumpets. 

A. D. 

The Blasphemous Messiah crowned 3001 

Anarchists declare war against the Jews 3009 

Anarchists declare war against the Catholics.. 3010 

Anarchists declare war against the Protestants. 3011 
The Jews are soon scattered from their settle- 
ment. The Catholics are conquered, after 

forty years of fighting 3010-3050 

The Protestants are conquered, after seventy 

years of fighting. 3011-3081 

Eeformation among Jews and Protestants. . . . 3081-3104 

Seven years of Protestant corruption 3104-3111 

Seven years of reformation victories 3111-3118 

Seven years of treachery by monopolists 3118-3135 

Seventy years of international wars, resulting 
in the general breaking up of the nations; 
also a seventy years' era of reconstruction by 

the Eeformed Jews 3125-3195 

Seventy years of international reconstruction. . 3195-3265 
Alliance between Anarchists and Catholics 

within the succeeding century 3265-3365 

End of Protestantism 3355 

Seven years of persecution against Jews and 

Christians 3355-3362 

Era of the Man of Sin, 365 years 3001-3366 

The Messianic year 3362 

Important international conventions 3362-3372 

Great Messianic victories 3372-3392 



14 209 



CHAPTEE XIII 

The True Messiah 

The Messianic dispensation is so planned that the 
manysided Antichrist system shall be fully formulated 
within the limit of the first four trumpets^ and within a 
Messianic seventy weeks' era extending from the twentieth 
year of the first trumpet to the beginning of the fourth 
trumpet. That is the Messianic era of the false Messiah, 
or time to elapse until a fully developed Antichrist Mes- 
siah shall take the throne. For similar reasons the last 
three trumpets contain the Messianic era of the True Mes- 
siah, which is a seventy weeks' era extending from the 
twenty-first year of the fifth trumpet to the odd year after 
the sixth trumpet ; and within that era the true Messianic 
idea shall be fully attained, and the world's True Messiah 
will then be proclaimed. 

The true Messianic era is divided by Daniel into three 
periods, the first being a seven weeks' period, or forty-nine 
years succeeding the twenty-one years' controversy. The 
succeeding sixty-two weeks, or 434 years, is a period of 
opposition to Antichrist; and the final week, or last seven 
years, is a period of persecution by Antichrist. The twenty- 
one-year period of controversy and the forty-nine-year pe- 
riod that succeeds it are together equal to seventy years, 
which is the full period of the Church's reconstruction. 
Three hundred and seventy-five years later the reformed 

210 



THE TRUE MESSIAH 

American branch of Jews will have finished their seventy- 
year period of reconstruction, and those ^'two olive 
branches^^ will be great gospel powers during the last sixty- 
five years of the sixth trumpet and on until the Millen- 
nial era. 

The three woes mentioned by John are three eras of 
the power of Anarchy, that are included within the fifth, 
sixth, and seventh trumpets, respectively. The first woe 
is the era of the rise of Anarchy, within a period of 150 
years; the second woe is the era of limited international 
Anarchy, and will last 360 years; the third woe is the era 
of absolute Anarchy, and will last thirty-one years. 

Three epochs, called hours in prophecy, are closely con- 
nected with those three woes of Anarchy. They will occur 
within a period of seven or eight years at the close of the 
sixth and beginning of the seventh trumpets. The first 
hour will occur three and a half years before the close of 
the sixth trumpet. The second hour will take place in the 
odd year at the close of the sixth trumpet. The third hour 
will be in the fourth year of the seventh trumpet, and 
will occur 365 years from the beginning of the sixth 
trumpet, which is the era of the man of Sin, or revelation 
of Anarchy. The three hours are epochs that will affect 
the entire religious world, and are to be interpreted in 
circumstances that will begin to be anticipated in the lat- 
ter part of the fourth trumpet. 

The final week of the seventy weeks^ era, or last seven 
years of the sixth trumpet, is the inauguration period of 
the false Prophet; and the first seven years of the seventh 
trumpet is the inauguration period of the rival Antichrist 
Messiah. The true Messianic week will have the odd year 
for its center, and will therefore include a part of the 
time included within each of the two Antichrist weeks. 
The hour that shall come upon the world as a thief will 

311 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

be fulfilled in each of those three epochs. The two Anti- 
christ hours are the hours of the Beast^ of which we have 
taken some notice ; and the hour of the true Messianic week 
is the hour of the Son of man^ the Lord^s Christ. 

Jesus is the Christ, and is the One who is appointed 
for the Messianic dominion of the world; but the Messi- 
anic titles that apply to Christ also apply to His Messianic 
institution, and the prophecies that are fulfilled in Christ 
are yet to be fulfilled in His body, the Church. The Child 
of the Virgin, whose name is called Immanuel, is the Christ 
incarnate, who was born of the Virgin Mary; but Protes- 
tantism is the virgin institution, free from Antichrist cor- 
ruptions, which shall give birth to the Immanuel institu- 
tion that shall originate in the sealing period. From that 
institution will proceed the true Messianic authorities of 
the first four trumpets. The Immanuel institution will be 
succeeded by the Messianic institution of the fifth trumpet ; 
and from that body and the reformed Jewish branch of 
the sixth trumpet will proceed the Messianic authorities of 
the last thl-ee trumpets. 

The messages to the seven Churches are an epitome of 
the Church and its difficulties in the era of the seven 
trumpets. 

The first message reproves the Church for having lost 
their first love. After doing a good work, and continuing 
steadfast and bearing the name of Christ, they lost the 
one thing that should characterize the Immanuel institu- 
tion, and must return to that from which they have fallen, 
and do their first work. 

In the second message mention is made of the tribula- 
tion and poverty of the Church; and the reasons for such 
things can readily be understood as being connected with 
the Antichrist wars and desolations of those times. But 
they are rich with all their poverty. There is a class among 

212 



THE TRUE MESSIAH 

them^ however, who say they are Jews, and are not, but are 
a synagog of Satan. That will be the beginning of Anti- 
christ innovations in the Church of that period; and the 
ten years^ tribulation is mentioned in connection with that 
defection. It will be the formative period of the Worm- 
wood apostasy; and the devil, probably in the person of 
the author of that tribulation, will cast some of them into 
prison; and it is implied that some may be put to death. 

The third message is addressed to the Church of the 
period when they shall be greatly menaced by the new 
form of Antichrist. God's recognized institution is said 
to dwell where Satan's throne is; and the false Messiah's 
seat at that time will be in IN'orth America, where God's 
faithful witness was killed in the ten years' persecution. 
The false teachers within the Church are compared to 
Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before 
the children of Israel to eat things offered to idols and to 
commit fornication. 

In the fourth message the Church is commended for 
their works and love and faith and ministry; and the last 
works are more than the first. There has been some prog- 
ress, but a Satanic prophetess is permitted by them to 
teach; and she seduces them to commit fornication and to 
eat things offered to idols, as did the false teachers of the 
former period. 

The fifth message is addressed to the Jews, after the 
rejection of the Immanuel institution and in the earliest 
period of the new construction. The Jewish institution 
has a name of living, but is dead ; and the things that 
remain are ready to die and need to be strengthened. The 
works of the Church are not perfect before God; and they 
are exhorted to remember what they have received and 
heard, and to watch against an hour that will come as 
a thief. But a few have not defiled their garments, 

313 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

"and thej^ shall walk with Me in white; for they are 
worthy/^ 

In the sixth message the Jews are commended because 
tliey have "a little power^ and didst keep My word, and 
didst not deny My name/^ The synagog of Satan, who 
say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie, are recognized 
in their true character. A later defection in the Jews' rec- 
ognition of the false Messiah is here referred to. For keep- 
ing the word of steadfastness they will also be kept from 
the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, 
to trj^ them that dwell upon the earth. "I come quickly ;'' 
that hour will be comparatively near; and they are ad- 
monished to hold fast that which they have, that no man 
take their crown (in the Millennial dominion, when Anti- 
christ shall contend against them). 

The seventh message is addressed to the Church of the 
period of the last great conflict, with which the era of 
the seven trumpets shall end. The Church's hour of trial 
will then be past, and the silencing of the Church will have 
been succeeded by its revival; but for some reason there 
will be a prevalent lukewarmness. This is described as 
being sickening, '^^I will spue thee out of My mouth.'' The 
people of God will be self-satisfied, because of not being 
sensible of their real needs; and are counseled to buy gold 
tried in the fire, that they may be rich; white garments, 
that they may be clothed ; and eye salve to anoint their eyes, 
that they may see. The sense of security after deliverance 
from danger will be followed by an apathy that will be 
detrimental to the ChurcTi. 

It has been demonstrated that the two conflicting spir- 
itual powers of good and evil will be revealed at the same 
time and by the same law of progressive revelation. It is 
therefore apparent that each of those two powers will con- 
tain a corresponding number of spiritual representatives. 

2U 



THE TEUE MESSIAH 

The angels of the seven trumpets and the angel of the 
altar mentioned by John reveal a plan of seven, and an 
"eighth who is of the seven." (Compare Eev. 8:2, 3 
with Eev. 17: 10, 11.) The nmnber of gospel champions 
in the Great Controversy is given in Micah 5 : 5, "When 
the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall 
tread in our palaces, then shall we raise against him seven 
shepherds and eight princes among men." That is equal 
to the number of Antichrist sects that shall exist at the 
beginning of the fifth trumpet, including the two later 
forms of Antichrist. There will be fifteen in all, which 
is equal to the sum of seven and eight. 

To enumerate : Each false Messiah of the first four trum- 
pets will represent a distinct sect : and, altho the dominion 
of three sects shall be set aside after the Leopard Mes- 
siah^s administration, yet those sects will continue to exist 
until after the Great Controversy of the fifth trumpet. 
The four united branches that shall organize after the 
Leopard Messiah will be four sects distinct from those 
three. To the four will be added six later sects, that will 
be included in the later Antichrist organization; and one 
of the later sects will represent the adherents of the fourth 
false Messiah. There will be thirteen Antichrist sects in 
all of the old type, and the two later forms of Antichrist, 
making fifteen in all. There will be fifteen Antichrist 
champions representing those sects in the Great Contro- 
versy, and a corresponding number of gospel champions in 
defense of the truth. 

A succession of gospel authorities is as clearly out- 
lined in the prophetic plan as is a succession of Antichrist 
authorities; but the outline is more general, so that the 
era to which each one belongs must be ascertained by the 
circumstances and by the order of the outline. 

Eev. 8 : 3-5. The first gospel prince is an ecclesiastical 

315 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

statesman and reformer of the silent half hour, of the odd 
year that borders upon the first trumpet. 

Eev. 2 : 10-13. The second gospel prince will lay down 
his life for his cause in the ten years' persecution at the 
close of the second trumpet. 

Isa. 40 : 3. ^^The voice of him that crieth in the wil- 
derness, Prepare ye the way of Jehovah," is a reformer who 
probably belongs to the third trumpet. 

Micah 2 : 13. The breaker of Micah is a reformer of 
the fourth trumpet, who shall lead his people out of their 
corrupted institution. 

Eev. 8 : 13. The eagle of John is an evangelistic states- 
man of the fourth trumpet, who will foresee the tribula- 
tions that the power of Anarchy shall bring upon the world. 

Isa. 41 : 2 ; Dan. 10:13; Eev. 12 : 7-12. The one who 
is raised up from the East is Prince Michael, the contro- 
versialist and organizer of the fifth trumpet. 

Isa. 41 : 25. The one raised up from the North is a 
gospel messenger to the Jews, who will probably be raised 
up about the beginning of the sixth trumpet. The one 
raised up from the rising of the sun will be his contem- 
porary. He will be a gospel statesman from the East. 

Isa. 42:1, 7, 19. The chosen servant who is blind 
and deaf is a Jewish statesman and reformer, who shall be 
raised up about the beginning of the Jewish reformation. 

Isa. 44 : 28 — 45 : 4. The shepherd Cyrus is a Christian 
ruler and statesman, and a champion for the Jews. 

Isa. 49 : 1-6. His servant ^^to bring Jacob again to 
Him," and to be ^^for a light to the nations," is a gospel 
prince who shall lead the Jews into the true light. 

Mai. 3 : 1 (first clause) ; 4 : 5 ; Eev. 11 : 1-12. The two 
messengers mentioned by Malachi are to be identified with 
the two witnesses mentioned by John. They will prophesy 
near the close of the sixth trumpet. 

316 



THE TEUE MESSIAH 

Isa. 52:13—53:12; Zech. 3. Isaiah describes the 
Christ incarnate, who died to save others. In chapter 54 : 5 
He is called the Eedeemer, the Holy One ; called the God 
of the whole earth. He is the world^s Messiah, thru whom 
the Jews shall be restored, and their seed shall inherit the 
Gentiles. The restoration of the Jews will begin to be ac- 
complished under the Jewish gospel prince of Zechariah 3, 
who will be raised up at the beginning of the Millennial 
era. (See Isa. 55: 4.) 

Isa. 61 : 1. One anointed to preach the year of Jeho- 
vah^s favor and the day of vengeance which will then be 
near at hand, will be raised up near the close of the Mil- 
lennial era. 

Isa. 63 : 1-6. The one who ^^cometh from Edom with 
dyed garments from Bozrah,^' is the Jews^ mighty one, 
upon whom help will be laid in the day of vengeance to 
lead his people victoriously against the Antichrist and Mo- 
hammedan powers. 

It seems apparent that there will be fifteen Antichrist 
authorities in the first four trumpets, and five Antichrist 
reproductions, who shall figure as Messianic leaders in the 
last three trumpets; while the true Christian authorities 
will have their minority in the first four trumpets and 
their majority in the last three trumpets. We shall take a 
brief view of the administration of those Messianic gospel 
authorities. 

The first gospel prince will pilot the Church thru the 
perils of the first trumpet. Little is written prophetically 
regarding that time, except what has been revealed thru 
Isaiah and John, to the effect that after a prosperous cen- 
tury of peace the country will again be ruined (Isa. 6 : 13; 
Eev. 8:7). We have seen that the Protestant people will 
be the principal sufferers in the tribulations of the sixth 
seal; and since the desolations of the first trumpet is to 

317 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

be a renewal of those disturbances, it is quite probable that 
those later tribulations will again fall heavily upon them, 
both in the fifteen years' war with which that era shall 
begin and in the thirteen years' persecution that shall fol- 
low later. But the elect will at length be endangered^ and 
that tribulation will be shortened for their sake, to save the 
elect body which will then be in its infancy. 

The protracted naval conflict of the second trumpet will 
probably have no more than a general effect upon the 
Church, wliich will suffer in common with all classes of 
society during tliose ruinous wars. Amo'S speaks of the 
overthrow of Antichrist as the opening of the way to take 
Antichrist's dominions (2: 9, 10) ; but a synagog of Satan 
will be menacing the Church at that time (Eev. 2:9), 
and they will refuse to follow the leadership of the prophets 
and Nazarites whom God shall raise up among them. They 
"^^gave the Nazarites wine to drink; and commanded the 
prophets, saying, Prophesy not." Instead of following 
their leaders, they will require their leaders to follow them. 
Such will be the difficulties that God's faithful witness will 
have to encounter in those times, until at last he shall seal 
his mission with his blood. 

As the persecution shall end, the apostasy will begin, 
and Satan will carry away a large proportion of the Church 
thru the instrumentality of the Wormwood Star. Only a 
remnant of their former importance will remain; but little 
is shown prophetically of that era of spiritual darkness 
which shall cover the period of the third trumpet, only 
that it will be noted for the rise of many forms of error 
and for the degeneracy of the times. After the persecu- 
tion and death of the faithful martyr of the second trum- 
pet at the hands of his own, it seems apparent that the 
Immanuel institution will be left for a long time without 
a divinely appointed leader; but ^^the voice" of the re- 

»18 



THE TEUE MESSIAH 

former will at length be heard. The remnant of that de- 
generated body will be barely able to save their institu- 
tion from the crisis that shall threaten its extinction when 
the third form of Antichrist shall begin to rise. 

The Voice of the third trumpet will be succeeded by 
the Breaker of the fourth trumpet^ who will labor for 
twenty-three years to bring about a reformation. He will 
be opposed by the Jezebel prophetess^ Avith her new form 
of the Wormwood doctrines. The American Eagle will sup- 
plement the labors of the reformer in his effort against the 
rising power of Anarchy during the thirteen years' perse- 
cution that shall succeed that era of reformation. The 
smiting of the third part of the sun^ or extinction of a 
part of the gospel power in the fourth trumpet^ will be 
accomplished thru the Anarchists by breaking up the Im- 
manuel institution, the two that shall remain being the 
Jews and Protestants. 

At the beginning of the fifth trumpet the elect body 
will be organized under Prince Michael into a Messianic 
institution. That famous leader will probably be an Eng- 
lishman, since the center of the controversy will be in Eng- 
land, where the Dragon Messiah will have his seat. Prince 
Michael will lead in the opposition against the Dragon 
and the two older forms of Antichrist that the Dragon 
shall represent; while the Eagle of America will oppose 
the apostle of Anarchy. 

The direct cause of the controversy will be due to the 
Dragon^s eiiort to gain the recognition of the newly formed 
Messianic Christian body, which at that time will be the 
only existing Messianic Christian institution. Should they 
refuse to recognize the Messianic authority of the Dragon 
Messiah, the powers of Antichrist must ultimately receive 
such an overthrow in their ecclesia,stical capacity as did 
the old power in their political capacity. The importance 

219 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

of that contest will be well understood by both sides; and 
the Anarchists who so hotlj^ opposed the Iron Messiah will 
also oppose the Messianic Christian institution. 

The two spiritual powers^ equally balanced with fifteen 
champion contestants on each side^ will enter upon the 
era of the Great Controversy that shall decide their future 
relation. After the era of the Controversy the Church will 
work along her own line to prepare the world for the reign 
of Christy while the powers of Antichrist will labor to 
gain the political supremacy and to hamper the Church. 

Isaiah 41 : 3-7 describes the era of reconstruction that 
will succeed after the Controversy. Verse 3 shows that it 
will be a new departure. Verse 5 shows that it will be 
an international movement^ in wliich all Messianic Chris- 
tians will co-operate. Verse 7 describes it as a permanent 
institution^ one that ^^should not be moved.!'^ 

The two statesmen who shall rise from the North and 
from the rising of the sun are probably contemporaries^ 
who shall rise about the beginning of the sixth trumpet. 
The statesman from the East will be a leader among men. 
The one from the North will be a gospel prince of North 
America, who will lead in a movement to evangelize the 
Jews (Isa. 41:27). 

The chosen servant who ^^shall bring forth judgment to 
the nations/^ appears, from his order in the program, to 
be one who shall succeed, after the evangelization movement 
before mentioned. He will be a Jewish statesman and ''sl 
light to the nations/^ at a time when the darkness of An- 
archy shall be overspreading the land. He will labor to 
better the circumstances of his oppressed people; but with 
regard to the gospel he will be blind and deaf, the Jews 
not having come to the light (Isa. 42:19). The possi- 
bilities of better things for Israel will begin to appear, and 

220 



THE TRUE MESSIAH 

they will begin to amend their Antichrist defections. (See 
Isa. 43 and 44.) 

The shepherd Cyrus will be an English statesman, and 
will probably be the head of the English Government. He 
will be a champion for the downtrodden Jews in the lat- 
ter part of the sixth trmnpet, and will take effective meas- 
ures for their emancipation (Isa. 45: 13). Antichrist de- 
fections will still continue among the Jews^, but the refor- 
mation will progress. (See Isa. 47 and 48.) 

The gospel statesman who shall labor to "bring Jacob 
again to Him^^ will at last be instrumental in leading the 
Jews into the true light of the gospel, and they will be 
Christianized in the closing part of the sixth trumpet. 
Glorious possibilities of better things will begin to appear 
on behalf of the Jews (Isa. 51). 

The two messengers mentioned by Malachi and Jolin 
will be raised up at a time when the people of God shall 
be silenced and deprived of the protection of law. Zecha- 
riah 13 : 1-6 reveals that at the time when the false 
Prophet shall be putting forth his claims the Church will 
rule down such pretensions with a strong hand, even to the 
extent that persons truly inspired with a prophetic spirit 
shall be shamed and silenced, and compelled to retire to 
the common avocations of life. But their apparent dis- 
advantages will be the means of saving them when the pas- 
tors of the Church shall be assassinated, and their enforced 
seclusion will likewise be the means of preserving them 
at the time of the great massacre of the Church. 

The extinction of Protestantism will occur upon the 
eve of the seven years^ persecution with which the sixth 
trumpet shall close ; and the fury of Antichrist will then be 
directed with full force against the Messianic Christians 
and Jews. The pastors of the Church in general will be 

221 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

stricken down by the Antichrists, and the Lord's prophets 
will be silenced by their own; but the two witnesses who 
shall be raised up at that time will be bold enough to 
champion their cause. They will have power to shut 
the heaven that it rain not during the days of their 
prophec}^, which will last 1^260 days^ so that there will 
be a drought similar to that which occurred in the days 
of King Ahab at the word of Elijah. They will also 
have j)ower over the waters to turn them into blood, 
and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they 
shall desire. They will be God's plenipotentiaries, empow- 
ered to labor against the wicked pretenses of the false 
Prophet. 

One of those remarkable men will be Elijah returned 
to our earth to save the cause of Christ at a very critical 
time. He was taken to heaven bodily, as Enoch had been 
before ; and there are good reasons for believing that Enoch 
will be the other witness. The law of sin and death does 
not exempt any of Adam's posterity before the end of the 
age ; and those two men are held over for a time when no 
other living men would be able to successfully oppose the 
two great Antichrists of that era. 

John's description of the two witnesses answers to the 
Elijah type, and Daniel's description of the Ancient of 
days, the Prophet Enoch, shows that he is also a man of 
power, and will be honored by the Messenger of the cove- 
nant, the Son of man, on His return. Before his trans- 
lation he prophesied of that day of Christ of which the two 
witnesses will be the heralds (Jude 14, 15) ; and he who 
foresaw that day and the terrible judgments that shall be 
visited upon ungodly men in the winepress period of the 
seventh trumpet will be sent to our earth in company with 
the zealous Elijah, to again warn the world of those im- 
pending judgments. 

222 



THE TEUE MESSIAH 

Those two prophets will be a shining mark for Anti- 
christ; but their lives will be preserved until the time of 
the great massacre. John^s prophetic hint of the place 
where they shall be killed points to Eome, the great and 
ancient Antichrist center. Eome bears the same relation 
to Antichrist that Jerusalem does to the Church ; and ^^the 
great city^^ of Eome stands for Antichrist in prophecy just 
as ^Hhe holy city^^ of Jerusalem stands for the Church. 
John calls the Antichrist city by its spiritual name^ which 
is Egypt, the prophetic name of the old and typical Anti- 
christ power; and Sodom, because of its wickedness and 
doom to destruction; and he adds, by way of explanation, 
^^Where also their Lord was crucified,^^ referring to the 
Eoman authorities who put Him to death. 

In the street of Eome will those two great men lie, 
both alike noted for their supernatural gifts and for the 
terror they caused to the enemies of Christ. They will 
probably lie in state, prepared by the hands of kind and 
sorrowing friends; but their enemies will not suffer their 
dead bodies to be buried. Eor three days and a half they 
will be kept as a public exhibition of their enemies^ tri- 
umph, who will be rejoicing and sending gifts to one an- 
other out of the spoils of the slain. The Antichrist jubi- 
lation will then be suddenly interrupted by the reanima- 
tion of the two slain men, who will rise and stand upon 
their feet in the presence of their awe-struck enemies ; and 
a great voice from heaven will be heard, saying, ^^Come up 
hither;^' and they will ascend up to heaven in a cloud, 
their enemies beholding them. 

^^And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and 
the tenth part of the city fell; and there were killed in 
the earthquake, names of men seven thousand.^^ The 
meaning appears to be that seven thousand persons of 
name, or renown, among the Antichrist circles will be 

223 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

killed in the earthquake that shall occur after the ascen- 
sion of the two witnesses. That seven thousand of killed 
in the earthquake will be a tithe of retribution upon the 
Saint Bartholomew massacre^ in which seventj^ thousand 
Christians were slain. 

Those remarkable circumstances will put an end to 
Antichrist atrocities for the succeeding three and a half 
years. During that time the two gospel institutions will 
be silenced from public work; but important changes will 
be going on. Daniel mentions those changes in a general 
way^ of both the true and the false Messiah. "In the 
midst of the week He shall cause the sacrifice and the ob- 
lation to cease.^^ The false Messiah will demand the sus- 
pension of both the Jewish sacrifices and the Christian 
eucharist^ in recognition of his Messianic claims. That 
will occur at the beginning of the week of the True Mes- 
siah, which will begin in the midst of the week of the 
two allied Antichrist powers. After the resurrection and 
ascension of the two Messianic princes the Jews will recog- 
nize the True Messiah; and the Messianic Christians and 
Jews will then enter into a firm covenant, which will be 
the first step toward the union of those two institutions. 

A great Messianic convention of those two covenant 
branches will afterward be held, in wliich the name and 
number and mark and image of the Beast will be formally 
renounced; and a formal declaration will be made, sus- 
taining the authority of Christ. It seems apparent that 
the convention will be held in the Messianic year, or "midst 
of the week'^ of the True Messiah; and that the Messiah 
will return in person at that time, and put an end to the 
use of the eucharist, which was to show forth His death 
until His return. The world^s True Messiah will then be 
proclaimed by great voices in heaven, which may be con- 
strued to mean either the voice of the Church or voices 

224 



THE TEUE MESSIAH 

sounding from heaven to earth ; but it probably means both. 
John places that proclamation immediately after the sound- 
ing of the seventh trumpet. It is an epoch that will mark 
the turning point in the religious aspect of the world. It 
is also the beginning of the time when the dead shall be 
judged, and the prophets and saints rewarded, and the 
destroyers of the earth destroyed. 

The first six plagues will be fulfilled in the interval be- 
tween the time of the Messianic convention of the odd year 
and the great Antichrist convention that shall be held in 
the fourth year of the seventh trumpet, the seventh plague 
beginning at that point. To that interval also applies 
John^s enigma of the scarlet Woman seated upon the scar- 
let-colored Beast. The "Woman symbolizes the power of 
Anarchy and is said to be drunken with the blood of the 
saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus after the 
wholesale assassination of the Church, in which that Anti- 
christ power will be the leading instigator and perpetrator. 
The Church at that time will once again be an aggressive 
gospel power; but the powers of Antichrist will have a 
great majority on their side. 

Vile and wicked as their revelation shall show them 
to be, their system wicked and corrupt, and the votaries of 
Antichrist writhing under the scathing denunciations of 
the Church, they will yet hope to put down the authority 
of the Lord's Christ ; and the three Antichrist powers will 
unite in an effort to crush the growing power of the Church. 

The words, ^"^Behold, I come as a thief,'' refer to the 
same circumstance, that will begin to appear prospectively 
at the beginning of the fifth trumpet; and the repetition 
of that warning near the close of the era of Anarchy shows 
how important it will be for the people of God to keep 
aware of their perils. (Cp. Eev. 3:3; 16: 15.) ^^Blessed 
is he that watcheth," is coupled with the second admoni- 
15 225 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

tion ; f or^ tho the advantages will appear altogether on the 
enemies^ side, a great victory for the Lord^s Christ will 
be near. 

After the war between the rival Antichrist Messiahs, 
the Beast and false Prophet and kings of the earth will 
mass the Satanic forces for the final conflict of that period. 
John's vision of the world's True Messiah represents Him 
as King of kings and Lord of lords, coming in His mili- 
tary character to lead His people in the great battle of 
God Almighty. Little is said prophetically of that pro- 
tracted conflict, which will occupy the greater portion of 
the thirty years' period included in the seventh trumpet : 
only the final outcome is given. The false Messiahs will 
be executed; and the rest will be killed with the sword of 
the True Messiah, ^Svhich came forth out of His mouth." 

The circumstances of the Millennial reconstruction will 
be to us as a sealed book, until the "little book open" shall 
reveal the dimly outlined plan of that era. The first nine 
years of the Millennial administration will be occupied 
with a legal conflict between the Jewish branch of the 
Messianic union and the second person of the devil's trinity 
of Antichrist, the Dragon power. The Jews will be led 
by an able prince, who will be "for a witness to the peoples, 
a leader and commander to the peoples. Behold, thou shalt 
call a nation that thou knowest not, and a nation that knew 
not thee shall run unto thee, because of Jehovah thy God, 
and for the Holy One of Israel; for He hath glorified 
thee." The nation here referred to will probably be the 
only existing Christian body politic; and they will recog- 
nize him as a Messianic statesman. That will probably be 
the occasion of the persecution of the Jews by the Dragon 
Antichrists; and the Jews will be defamed on account of 
their former Antichrist defections. But he will exonerate 
his people from Antichrist's slanders and accusations, and 

236 



THE TRUE MESSIAH 

his own character will be gloriously vindicated (Zech. 3: 
4, 5). He will also succeed in removing the iniquity of 
his land in one day, in his legal victory over the Dragon^ 
ejffectually putting an end to the Jews^ four hundred years' 
captivity. Prince Joshua will afterward be empowered 
with regal authority in the Millennial dominion, with four 
coadjutors who will share with him in the Millennial ad- 
ministration. 

The independent branch of Jews in the East will be- 
come very strong in and around their ancient dominions 
(Isa. 54: 1), spreading abroad, and keeping pace with the 
growing importance of the Dragon Antichrists. They will 
probably be the first to favor an international theocracy, 
but the anarchistic Antichrists of the East will be a men- 
ace to free institutions. Near the close of the Millennial 
era a Jewish statesman will be divinely anointed ^^to preach 
the acceptable year of Jehovah^s favor^^ and to denounce 
the approaching day of vengeance against the Antichrists. 

As soon as measures shall be taken to change the iron 
Millennial administration into an international system of 
free government, the Antichrists will prepare to set up an 
international Messianic kingdom. Prophecy reveals little 
about their wars of that time, except the part they shall 
take against the Jews. After overrunning many of the 
countries of the East they will probably attempt a general 
massacre of the Jews. What else could rouse their ardor 
to the extent of waging a war of extermination against the 
Antichrists ? ^ 

We learn from Zechariah that the city of Jerusalem 
will be taken and plundered, and half of the city shall go 
into captivity, while the remainder shall not be cut off 
from the city. That appears to be a providential arrange- 
ment for saving the Lord^s elect; for at that point of the 
conflict the earthquake will occur that shall cleave the 

327 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

Mount of Olives, and leave a wide valley as a highway for 
the people to pass thru. 

The valley will reach to Azal, or from the city to a 
place of safety. "And ye shall flee/^ says the prophet, "like 
as ye fled before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king 
of Judah/^ The cleaving of the mountain will be the sig- 
nal for escape; and before their enemies shall sufficiently 
recover from their consternation to pursue them, a volcanic 
eruption will send forth a shower of fire and destroy them. 

The One who shall lead the Jews of the East against 
the post-Millennial Antichrists is introduced by Isaiah with 
the interrogation, "Who is this that cometh from Edom, 
with dyed garments from Bozrah: this that is glorious in 
His apparel, marching in the greatness of His strength?^' 
The answer is, "I that speak in righteousness, mighty to 
save.^^ The time of His introduction is at the close of 
that terrible winepress period. The army of Antichrist will 
be strongly re-enforced before the siege of Jerusalem; and 
none of the powers of the East will dare to interfere against 
so powerful a foe. 

The Jews will be left to tread the winpress of war 
alone, none of the nations oifering them any aid. "And I 
looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that 
there was none to uphold : therefore Mine own arm brought 
salvation unto Me, and My wrath, it upheld Me. And I 
trod down the peoples in Mine anger, and made them drink 
in My wrath, and I poured out their lif eblood on the earth/' 

The world's last victory over Antichrist will be won by 
the Jews under the Jews' Messiah. 

The Resurrection Charade. 

The circumstances of the Church bordering upon the 
Millennial era have been prophetically outlined in the form 
of a charade, in the circumstances of our Lord's death and 

228 



THE TKUE MESSIAH 

resurrection. An exposition of that remarkable prophetic 
charade is here appended to our study of the True 
Messiah. 

Our Lord^s assassination in the garden of Gethsemane 
will have its antitype in the assassination of the pastors of 
the Church, preparatory to a general persecution and 
wholesale massacre near the close of the sixth trumpet. 
The three dark hours on the cross will be fulfilled in the 
era including the three awful epochs called hours in 
prophecy, and occurring near the close of the sixth and 
beginning of the seventh trumpets. The great earthquake 
that occurred at His death will have its antitype in a 
great social agitation and judgment upon the powers of 
Antichrist. The nine hours of suffering and contempt 
upon the cross will be visited upon the Jews in the first 
nine j'Cars of the Millennial era, during which time they 
shall be officially killed by Antichrist, by being deprived 
of the Millennial kingdom. 

The first to whom our Lord appeared after His resur- 
rection were some women who w^ere His followers. Three 
of them are expressed by name, and appear to have been 
the- leading women of the company. Those women were 
sent as heralds to His disciples to announce His resurrec- 
tion, and His purpose to meet His followers in Galilee, 
according to an arrangement that had been made prior to 
His decease. He then appeared to Peter and to the two 
that were on the way to Emmaus. He afterward appeared 
to the ten, to the eleven, to the seven who were fishing, 
and to an assembly of more than five hundred in Galilee, 
the convention above referred to. Forty days after His 
resurrection He ascended up to heaven in the presence of 
the eleven. The disciples then tarried at Jerusalem ac- 
cording to His word ; and after ten days^ waiting the Holy 
Spirit was given, according to His promise. Those cir- 

329 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

cumstances shadow forth an outline of events that shall 
take place from the closing part of the sixth trumpet un- 
til the beginning of the Millennial era. 

At the close of the sixth trumpet the Church will con- 
sist of the Christian institution and two reformed Jewish 
branches. After the three and a half years^ silencing of 
the Church that shall follow after the great assassination, 
the revival will begin thru the leading or representative 
women of the Church. The restoration of Peter is a gra- 
cious pledge of God^s forbearance with such as shall not 
be prepared for that hour of trial that shall come upon 
the followers of Christ. 

To the two that were on the way to Emmaus He ap- 
peared in an exceptional form, and they did not recognize 
Him. As they walked He interpreted to them in all the 
Scriptures the things concerning Himself; and afterward 
in the breaking of bread their eyes were opened, and they 
knew Him, and He vanished out of their sight. Those 
two disciples evidently typify the two reformed branches 
of Jews who will not yet be able to see the Messiah in 
the Christ crucified. They must first be convinced thru 
the Scriptures that He has fulfilled the Messianic condi- 
tions ; and when they shall be able to accept the memorial 
sacrament He has given in the bread and the wine, their 
false Messianic ideas will vanish, as did the stranger who 
was revealed in the breaking of bread at Emmaus. As soon 
as He was revealed to them they hastened to meet the dis- 
ciples. Even so will the Jews seek the conference of 
Christian believers when they shall recognize their Lord 
the Christ. When the two from Emmaus joined the com- 
pany of disciples, Jesus also stood in their midst; and 
Jesus will again reveal Himself to an international as- 
sembly of Christians and Jews. The stolid Thomas who 
would not believe the evidence of others represents a class 

230 



THE TRUE MESSIAH 

of people always to be founds who must see in order to 
be convinced. 

The seven fishermen to whom He appeared typify the 
Church in general. They could catch no fish until they 
followed the Lord's instructions by casting the net on the 
right side ; and they then found a great multitude of fishes. 
Even so must Christ's evangelists depend upon Him for 
guidance, and they will succeed in winning souls when 
they get on the side of right. The net did not break thru 
the multitude of fishes, and Christ's elect believers will 
never become too numerous to sustain their unity. 

The convention of disciples wdth whom the Lord met 
in Galilee is a circumstance that points prospectively to a 
Messianic convention that shall be arranged prior to the 
massacre of the Church. After the revival of the Church 
the convention will meet as previously arranged. 

When the Lord commissioned Peter to feed His flock. 
He foreshadowed His purpose to place one of His own 
appointment at the head of His Messianic administration. 

The Lord's ascension will have its prophetic anniver- 
sary in the tenth year of the Millennial era, which will be 
forty years after the revival of the Church. It will also 
be the close of the Jews' four hundred years^ captivity, 
and the time of the incorporation of the Messianic Chris- 
tians and Jews as a Millennial institution. 

The Pentecostal baptism which occurred ten days after 
the Lord's ascension will likewise have its prophetic anni- 
versary ten years after the Jews' regal admission into the 
Millennial administration. That ten years' interval will 
undoubtedly be noted for some important religious move- 
ment, which will be crowned by a great spiritual outpour- 
ing and followed by a glorious and widespread Millennial 
revival. 

It has pleased God to employ the circumstances of our 

^1 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

Lord^s death and resurrection as a beautiful prophetic 
charade foreshadowing in living scenes the future enact- 
ment of analogous events that shall transpire upon a larger 
and grander scale. Trul}^^ He who was the center of that 
wonderful progi^am^ in speaking of the possibilities of the 
future, said of His gospel princes that should yet arise, 
^^Greater works than these shall He do; because I go to 
the Father/^ The work He did was, humanly speaking, 
a very limited beginning of the kingdom of heaven. The 
greater accomplishment of that work He left for others. 
When at last the wonderful program shall be fulfilled that 
shall usher in Christ^s Millennial reign, the world may 
well stand in awe of what God hath wrought. 



232 



CHAPTEE XIV 

Character of Gospel Authorities 

The gospel authorities of the Messianic dispensation 
will be men of the Christly type, and in point of character 
they Avill be the opposite of the Antichrist authorities. 
The True Messiah is called the Lamb of God and the 
Lion of the tribe of Judah; but His gospel shepherds and 
princes are uniformly described as men in the character of 
servants of God. 

Each of the seven messages contains a Messianic sug- 
gestion of Christy which is also a suggestion of Christ^s rec- 
ognized servant. The Messianic suggestion in the first 
message of ^^Him who holdeth the seven stars in His right 
hand, He that walketh in the midst of the seven golden 
candlesticks/^ is also suggestive of the strong, unwavering 
faith of the lion-hearted gospel prince of the first trumpet. 
He will fearlessly walk upon the storm-tossed sea of war 
and persecution, with followers of a like spirit, reposing 
liis confidence in the mighty one upon whom God has laid 
help to keep His people and preserve His Church in the 
perilous times of the false Messiahs.- The promise, ^^To 
him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, 
which is in the midst of the Paradise of God,'^ is assured 
to Christ^ s victorious ones at a time when Antichrist shall 
be striving to take away the tree of life. 

The gospel prince of the second trumpet is referred to 
as ^^my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among 

233 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

you where Satan dwelleth/^ He will lead in a cause "that 
was dead and lived again/^ In the external aspects of the 
Church the cause of the gospel will seem prostrated after 
the international wars and persecutions of the first trum- 
pet, and the Christly leader of the Church will undoubtedly 
be an important factor in bringing the crisis of the great 
naval conflict of the second trumpet to a successful issue; 
for those gospel princes will be Messianic statesmen and 
will take the lead in every Messianic victory of the Church. 
That faithful witness of Christ, after leading his people 
thru the international struggles of his time, will after- 
ward lay down his life in a cause that shall be menaced by 
foes within. But his works shall follow him; for the 
revival of his cause will be permanent, and "shall not 
be hurt of the second death^^ in the final dissolution of the 
Immanuel institution. 

The Messianic suggestion of "him that hath the sharp 
sword with two edges'^ applies to a protracted era of Anti- 
christ and apostasy when aggressive gospel work will be 
needed to withstand the insidious delusions of those times. 
The admonition to "repent; or else I will come unto thee 
quickly, and I will fight against them with the sword of 
My mouth,^^ is a timely warning of the approaching spir- 
itual conflict that will come at a later time ; and a "Voice^' 
will be heard near the close of that era, calling for a ref- 
ormation. The sword of His mouth is the true gospel 
weapon to be employed in fighting against sin. "To him 
that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, 
and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a 
new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that 
receiveth it.^^ The eating of the hidden manna suggests 
the restoration of precious spiritual truths that have been 
lost; and the new name suggests a new institution. The 
Church will enter upon a new era. 

334 



CHAEACTEE OF GOSPEL AUTHOEITIES 

The Breaker of Micah will be a practical reformer and 
will carry out the ideas of his predecessor, the Voice. He 
will be a gospel prince, since Micah calls him their king, 
and will preside over the most important international 
convention of that era. As a leader among men he will 
be remarkable for his boldness and decision. He will be 
a man of a strong character, a quality that will be greatly 
needed in the era of the Iron Messiah. The American 
Eagle who shall rise after him will be farsighted and 
aspiring. John speaks of him as ^^one eagle,^^ and his 
sphere ^^mid heaven.^^ He will not be a leader of a sect, 
nor the head of an organization; but a lone prophet, who 
shall foresee the progressive woes of anarchy, going on 
from bad to worse. "He that overcometh shall have author- 
ity over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod 
of iron.^^ That will be the Messianic platform of the refor- 
mation of that era. The necessity of a strong international 
Christian government will begin to appear. "And I will 
give him the morning star.^^ Isaiah calls the false Prophet 
Lucifer, or day star, because of the near approach of the 
Millennial era at the time of his rise; but Christ is the 
morning star, whose coming in the clouds of heaven shall 
occur in the era of the Iron Messiah, when the night of 
the false Messiahs shall near its close and the Great Eefor- 
mation shall begin to dawn. 

The Messianic suggestion of the fifth message is, "He 
that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars.^^ 
The morning of the Great Eeformation will begin in the 
Great Controversy that shall be led by Prince Michael. 
A large proportion of the Immanuel institution will have 
been carried away by the Anarchists, so that the elect body 
will be wholly free from that undesirable class that caused 
them to depart out of their former institution. They will 
embrace the very best men of the time, the wisest and 

235 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

most able of evangelistic statesmen. Prince Michael will 
be an able controversialist, and will lead an able body 
of religious statesmen thrn a very important crisis at a 
time when the cause of the gospel shall be menaced by 
Antichrist. The American Eagle will rise so near the 
time of the Controversy that it is quite apparent that he 
will take the lead against the apostle of Anarchy, while 
Michael will be the direct opponent of the Dragon Messiah. 
That elect body will consist of the *^^few who did not defile 
their garments: and they shall walk with Me in white, 
for they are worthy. He that overcometh shall thus be ar- 
rayed in white garments; and I will in no wise blot his 
name out of the book of life; and I will confess his name 
before My Father, and before His angels.^^ That Messi- 
anic victory will be honored by the divine approval. 

The Messianic suggestion of the sixth message is, ^"^He 
that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of 
David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and shutteth, 
and none openeth.^^ It suggests a movement for bringing 
in the Jews. The commendation, ^T know thy works, that 
thou hast a little power, and didst keep My word, and 
didst not deny My name,^^ applies to a select class of Jews 
who shall remain faithful to God at the time when the 
Jewish nation shall recognize the blasphemous Antichrist 
Messiah of the sixth trumpet. ^^Them that say they are 
Jews, and are not,^^ the Antichrist Jews of that era, will 
be reckoned by them with ^^the synagog of Satan,^^ or Anti- 
christ institution of the Blasphemous Messiah. 

One of the two Jewish reformers of that era who shall 
labor to bring their people back to their old allegiance will 
be an able statesman among the Jews of the East. ^^He 
shall come upon princes as upon mortar, and as a potter 
treadeth clay,^^ so great will be his power as a leader among 
men. The one from the North will labor among the Jews 

336 



CHAEACTER OF GOSPEL AUTHOEITIES 

of America, to lead them back to their former allegiance 
to God and away from the "wind and confusion'^ of Anti- 
christ delusions. 

The chosen servant who is blind and deaf "shall bring 
forth judgment to the nations'^ at a time when a judicial 
rendering of judgment in behalf of the Jews will be 
greatly needed. He will lead his people ^T)y a way that 
they knew not.^^ He will take them out of the old ruts 
of Judaism^ which will be a necessary preparation for 
the Christian evangelization of the Jews. The shepherd 
Gyrus will be a Christian statesman of great ability. The 
measures in which he shall take the lead in behalf of the 
Jews will be favorable to the reconstruction of the Jewish 
nation. 

His servant "to bring Jacob again to Him'^ will be one 
of the most remarkable Messianic statesmen of that era. 
He will effect a complete reformation among his people, 
the Jews, and will labor to break their bonds and to build 
up their desolate heritages. He will be bold enough to 
demand an international measure for the full restoration 
of the Jewish dispersion. (See Isa. 49: 22-26.) "I come 
quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no man 
take thy crown.^^ Upon the fidelity of the Jews will de- 
pend their ability to take part in the Millennial adminis- 
tration, which will then be near at hand. "He that over- 
cometh I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, 
and he shall go out thence no more. And I will write 
upon him the name of My God, and the name of the 
city of My God, the new Jerusalem which cometh down 
out of heaven from God, and Mine own new name.^^ The 
characteristic features of the new order of things will be 
impressed upon the overcomers of that era. 

The two faithful witnesses of whom Daniel and Malachi 
have prophesied, and whose return to earth is to be crowned 

237 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

with such wonderful power, are men who have already been 
tried and found faithful. In that respect they differ from 
the other Messianic shepherds and princes w^ho are yet to 
come, and whose description means nothing more than a 
description of the types of men that God will recognize 
and choose. But Enoch and Elijah have been living for 
hundreds of years, and training for the great crisis that 
all the nations of the world would not be able to meet 
without them. They will come in the character of Messi- 
anic statesmen, and their superior preparation will be 
needed to prepare men for the kingdom of heaven such as 
Christ shall be willing to honor. The Messianic suggestion 
of the seventh message is "the Amen, the faithful and 
true witness, the beginning of the creation of God.^^ The 
creation here referred to is the new order of things; but 
by a peculiar play upon words it applies to the Prophet 
Enoch, who was only the seventh from Adam and the first 
inspired witness of our race. 

The Jewish gospel prince of Isa. 55 : 4 is called David, 
who is to be a witness to the people, a leader and com- 
mander to the people. Zechariah introduces him in filthy 
garments, but in the end sees him clothed in clean ap- 
parel and wearing a crown. No one can be crowned until 
the kingdom shall begin, which means that the Millennial 
era will have begun. Prince David (or Joshua) will be 
an able Messianic statesman; and the great achievement 
of his life will be his Millennial victory over his Antichrist 
adversaries, and gaining for his people, the Jews, regal 
dominion in the Millennial kingdom. ^^To him that over- 
cometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as 
I overcame, and am set down with My Father in His 
throne.^^ The victorious overcomers of that last era of the 
great conflict will be rewarded with the honors of the Mil- 
lennial kingdom when "the kingdom and the dominion and 

238 



CHARACTER OF GOSPEL AUTHORITIES 

the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven will be 
given to the saints of the Most High ;^^ and they shall reign 
with Christ a thousand years. 

The prophet and statesman of Isaiah 61 : 1 will be the 
herald of a more advanced era of the new order. He 
will be a Jew of the East in the closing part of the Mil- 
lennial era, who will prophesy of the day of vengeance 
that shall be executed upon the post-Millennial Antichrists, 
and the acceptable era that shall afterward be ushered in. 

The Jews^ Messiah who is introduced by Isaiah in his 
military character at the close of the Millennial era will 
lead his people victoriously against the Antichrists under 
as great disadvantages as the Israelites had to encounter 
when they went against Canaan; and their Messianic vic- 
tory will gain for them the last and most glorious era of 
gospel administration. 

It can be seen that the true Messianic authorities are 
all to be men of the same type, and that in their pro- 
phetic description they always appear in the character of 
Christ, who is the first and the last, the world's abiding 
Messiah. The dignity of those Messianic princes and 
shepherds is described by Christ in Matthew 11 : 11, 
^^A^erily I say unto you, among them that are born of 
women there hath not risen a greater than John the Bap- 
tist ; yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater 
than he.'' In their official dignity the least of the apostles 
of Christ were greater than John the Baptist ; and that is 
pre-eminently true of the future Messianic statesmen who 
shall be instrumental in building up the kingdom of 
Christ. Enough has been shown of the character of the 
men who shall be chosen to be the founders of His Mes- 
sianic kingdom, and of their wonderful dignity and near 
relation to Him, to demonstrate that they will be men of 
no ordinary type. 

239 



CHAPTER XV 

Messianic Institutions 

After taking a general view of the Ciiurch and study- 
ing the times of the Messianic era and the character of 
the Messianic authorities^ we are prepared to study the 
progressive changes that are to take place in the Messianic 
institutions thru which the kingdom of heaven is to be 
established. 

Those changes are not to be understood as radical 
changes in the Messianic economy; but are of the nature 
of Messianic epochs. According to our Lord^s parable of 
the impracticability of putting new wine into old wine- 
skins^ an old body can not be adapted to more advanced 
ideas. A new institution must be organized^, while the old 
one must be done away or continue on its old plane until 
it disappears. 

The fourth chapter of Eevelation describes the ideal 
apostolic institution. The throne set in heaven is the 
emblem of the divine administration. The one sitting 
upon the throne is the Christy, the world's True Messiah. 
He was to look upon like a jasper stone and a sardius, one 
of which is the first in the high priest's breastplate, and the 
other the last. The import is similar to "the alpha and 
the omega, the first and the last.'' They include all that 
comes between, and mean that Christ is all in all. The 
rainbow round about the throne is the emblem of per- 

240 



MESSIAXIC IXSTITUTIONS 

manency. The emerald, to which it is compared, is the 
fourth in the breastplate of the high priest, and appears to 
point to the fulfillment of the first four seals, which was 
a critical era of the Church. 

The four and twenty thrones upon which were seated 
tlie four and twenty elders in white garments and with 
crowns of gold upon their heads, is emblematic of the 
gospel administration. The double of twelve suggests that 
it will comprehend both Christians and Jews, since there 
are twelve founders in each of the two institutions. Out 
of the throne proceeded lightnings and voices and thun- 
ders, the omens of a coming conflict with Antichrist. The 
seven lamps burning before the throne of God are the 
seven spirits of God, and typify the Church in general. 
The glassy crj^stal sea before the throne denotes a pure and 
solid but non-political institution. 

The four living creatures in the midst of the throne, 
and round about the throne, typify the four great con- 
tinents, and mean the world in general, to denote the 
catholicity of the Church. The six Avings denote the rapid 
spread of the gospel, and also the full command of travel- 
ing fa<*ilities. The four living creatures were full of eyes 
or spiritual intelligences; ^^and they have no rest day and 
night, saying. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Al- 
mighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come;^^ mean- 
ing that the worship of God shall never be suspended. And 
the elders cast their crowns down before Him that sitteth 
upon the throne, to signify the subjection of the Church 
to the authority of Christ, saying, "Worthy art Thou our 
Lord and our God, to receive the glory, and the honor, and 
the power; for Thou didst create all things, and because 
of Thy will they were and are created.^^ Here is the 
gospel platform, which ascribes to God, the Creator, the 
right of homage and authority. We now turn from the 
16 241 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

primitive ideal gospel institution to study the later eras 
of its development. 

The first gospel institution of the Messianic era is the 
one of the sixtli seal prophetically named Immanuel, God 
with us. The Immanuel institution is not strictly Mes- 
sianic, but is universal, being closely related to Protestaiit- 
ism. It will embrace "a great multitude out of every na- 
tion, and of all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing 
before the throne of God and of the Lamb, arrayed in 
white robes [of righteousness], and palms [of victory] in 
their hands.^^ They stand before the throne of God and 
the Lamb, to show their attitude toward heaven^s author- 
ity and heaven^s Redeemer. "And all the angels were stand- 
ing round about the throne, and the elders, and the four 
living creatures ; and they fell before the throne upon their 
faces and worshiped God.^^ Angels and men worship God, 
and recognize the Lamb as the True Messiah. 

The sevenfold benediction is suggestive of the Church 
universal, and is preceded by "Amen,^^ which is defined 
in 3 : 14 as "faithful and true.^^ It is the prophetic title 
of the faithful witness of the seventh trumpet, and also 
of that branch of Jews who shall establish the authority 
of Christ in the East at the close of the Millennial era. 
In all these instances it seems intended . as a Messianic 
appellation, and shows what strong features fidelity and 
truth will be in the Messianic economy. The white robed 
company came out of "the great tribulation^^ of the sixth 
seal. The one who sitteth on the throne shall "spread His 
tabernacle over them.^^ He will give them an institution 
and the privilege of worship ; "and the Lamb that is in the 
midst of the throne shall wipe away every tear from their 
eyes.^^ The sealed evangelists will lead the Church up to 
a high plane. 

It is quite probable that during the wars and perse- 

243 



MESSIANIC INSTITUTIONS 

cutions of the first trumpet the glorious gospel work be- 
gun in the sealing period will be suspended, and that the 
institution will be organized anew in the second trumpet. 
But it will still be the Immanuel institution, until the re- 
construction of the fifth trumpet. There will then be a 
decided change; and the new construction will be a truly 
Messianic institution. We turn to the twelfth chapter of 
Eevelation for John^s prophetic description of that new 
institution. 

The woman in travail represents the elect body of 
Christians who departed out of the corrupted Immanuel 
institution, and the man child is the institution they are 
laboring to produce. The woman is clothed with the sun, 
typifying a fully characterized gospel institution. The 
moon under her feet typifies the relation of the Messianic 
institution to the government; the Church superior to the 
State, and the State subject to the gospel. The crown of 
twelve stars symbolizes the authority of the twelve apostles. 
It will be a purely Christian institution. The woman was 
delivered of a man child, who is to rule the nations with a 
rod of iron. The necessity of the iron rule of a strong 
Messianic government will begin to appear in the fourth 
trumpet, and will give character to the Messianic institu- 
tion. That institution will sustain the authority of Christ, 
and will labor to prepare the world for His Messianic 
government, that is to begin after the power of Anarchy 
shall finish its course. Isaiah^s Messianic titles. Wonderful 
Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of 
Peace, represent the Messianic conceptions that shall char- 
acterize that institution. 

Eev. 14 : 1-5 describes a Jewish Messianic institution 
that will be formed in the sixth trumpet. Mount Zion 
represents the Messianic center, and the Lamb on Mount 
Zion represents Christ as the Shepherd of His people. A 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

hundred and forty and four thousand are with Him, hav- 
ing His name and the name of His Father written on their 
foreheads. It will be an evangelistic institution, resembling 
the one of the sealing period. A great voice from heaven 
was heard as the voice of a great thunder of harpers harp- 
ing with their harps, and they sing a new song that no 
one else can learn. "And in their mouth was found no lie ; 
they are without blemish.^^ It is a victorious era of the 
Church, in its undefiled body of faithful followers of the 
Lamb purchased from among men, as the first fruits unto 
God and the Lamb. It will be the first bringing in of the 
Jews before the Millennial era, in a reformation that shall 
be accomplished among the Jews of the West. 

Eev. 15:1-4 introduces another Jewish Messianic in- 
stitution, in the era of the seven last plagues of the seventh 
trumpet. The glassy sea represents the idea of a solid, 
but non-political institution. The fire mingled with the 
glass symbolizes its reformatory character. They are a 
body of reformers who have ^^gotten the victory over the 
beast, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, 
. . . And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of 
God, and the song of the Lamb.^^ They are a body of 
Christianized Jews, but retaining more of their Jewish 
characteristics than the other branch of Jews. "Who shall 
not fear, Lord, and glorify Thy name? for Thou art 
holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before 
thee; for Thy righteous acts have been made manifest.'' 
That is their Messianic platform. 

Rev. 19:1-10 describes a hallelujah convention. An 
opening and closing hallelujah is chorused by a great mul- 
titude, for the judgment that hath been visited upon the 
great harlot, in the overthrow of the power of Anarchy. 
This circumstance shows that the time of that convention 
will be subsequent to the hour that shall be visited upon the 

244 



MESSIANIC INSTITUTIONS 

Beast. ^^And the f our-and-twenty elders^ and the four 
living creatures fell down and worshiped God that sitteth' 
upon the throne^ saying. Amen; Hallelujah/^ Both Jews 
and Christians of the four great continents, or world at 
large, will be represented in that hallelujah assembly. It 
will be an international convention of the three Messianic 
institutions. ^'^And the voice of a great multitude as the 
voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, 
saying, Hallelujah; for the Lord our God, the Almighty, 
reigneth.^^ A few years before many voices in heaven pro- 
claimed the beginning of the Messianic kingdom of God 
and of His Christ : now the divine administration has been 
honored by God^s righteous judgments. 

^*^Let us rejoice and be exceeding glad; for the mar- 
riage of the Lamb is come; and His wife hath made her- 
self ready.^^ The Messianic Christians, and one branch of 
Messianic Jews, are about to unite, and the hallelujah meet- 
ing is the prelude of that important occasion. "And it 
was given unto her [the Jewish branch] that she should 
array herself in fine linen, bright and pure, which is the 
righteous acts of the saints. ^^ This prophetic hint shows 
that the slanderous persecutions of the Jews by the Dragon 
Antichrists will have begun, and the union can not be ef- 
fected until after the Jews^ vindication. 

Eev. 19 : 11-16 introduces the Church in its military 
character. The time is subsequent to the hallelujah con- 
vention. A Messianic personage appears who resembles the 
one who went forth conquering and to conquer, at the be- 
ginning of the first seal. He is called "^Taithful and 
True:" He is the Amen. "His eyes are like a flame of 
fire, and upon His head are many diadems," as the Messi- 
anic Sovereign of many worlds; and He now comes to 
gain a victory that will crown Him as our world^s Messiah. 

"He hath a name written which no man knoweth bu.t 

345 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

He Himself/^ to be interpreted in our lack of ability to ap- 
prehend His character. "And He is arrayed in a garment 
sprinkled with blood^^ from the winepress of war that He 
has been treading. ^^And His name is called the Word of 
God/^ the Word who was made flesh. ^^And the armies 
which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, 
clothed in fine linen^ white and pure/^ descriptive of their 
Christly character. ^^And out of His mouth proceedeth a 
sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: 
and He shall rule them with a rod of iron.^^ Here is 
the realization of the Messianic ideal of the fifth trumpet. 
This august personage "treadeth the winepress of the fierce- 
ness of the wrath of God, the Almighty ;^^ and now comes 
to tread the great winepress of the seventh trumpet. "And 
He hath on His garment and on* His thigh a name writ- 
ten, King of kings and Lord or lords.^^ He is the True 
Messiah, to whom all other Messianic dignitaries are sub- 
ject. 

This ideal Church militant is also realistic; just in 
what way we can not tell : but when the Beast and kings of 
the earth gathered together in a second great Antichrist 
convention to make war against the True Messiah, the 
Beast and the false Prophet were taken and executed : "and 
the rest were killed with the sword of Him that sat upon 
the horse.^^ After the execution of the two false Messiahs 
the thrones of Christ^s Messianic dominion are then placed, 
and the regal dominion of Christ and the saints then be- 
gins. 

After the final destruction of Antichrist at the close 
of the Millennial era there is a great white throne, and 
One upon it "from whose face the earth and the heaven 
fled away; and there was found no place for them.^^ Here 
is a dominion of which our imperfect ideas conceive as the 
higher heaven, or heaven of heavens. The Millennial judg- 

846 



MESSIANIC INSTITUTIONS 

ment will come before a heavenly tribunal ; but the second 
judgment will come before a higher tribunal than either 
earth or heaven. It will be the restoration of the The- 
ocracy, after schooling the race to prepare them for it 
thru three progressive dispensations. 

The Bride, the wife of the Lamb of the new order, will 
be a second union, which will consist of the three Messi- 
anic branches. The Eastern Jews will then share in the " 
honors of the Messianic kingdom in its new form. Christ 
will be the Shepherd of His people; but the kingdom He 
will deliver up to His Father. There will be ^^one fold 
and one Shepherd,^^ when "Jehovah shall be King over 
all the earth: in that day shall Jehovah be one, and His 
name one.^^ There will be but one name for the people 
of that union ; and that will be the "new name, which the 
mouth of Jehovah shall name.^^ The new institution will 
not be rent by factions, nor torn by schisms; and will con-* 
tinue under its new form and new name until the end 
of the age. 

John describes the Theocracy under the figure of a city 
having a wall great and high, to tj^pify strong protection. 
The portals are Jewish, being named after the twelve tribes 
of Israel. They were on all sides of the city, to show 
that it will be accessible to all; and were never shut, to 
denote that it is not an exclusive institution. Each portal 
was a pearl, to signify how precious is the privilege of 
becoming a member of the new institution. At the portals 
were twelve angels, to signify that admission into the new 
institution will be carefully guarded; "for there shall in 
no wise enter into it any thing unclean, or that maketh an 
abomination and a lie ; but only they that have their 
names written in the Lamb^s book of life.^^ 

The foundations of the city are Christian, being named 
after the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and represent the 

U7 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

doctrines of the new institution. The city lieth four-. 
square, to denote its universality. The length, breadth, and 
height thereof are equal, or well proportioned, to typify 
the perfection of its system. The rule of twelve, the num- 
ber of the Jewish and Christian founders, enters into all 
the dimensions of the city, to signify that there will be 
no admixture of any other systems. The building of the 
wall was jasper, which was also the name of the first foun- 
dation. It would therefore appear that jasper stands for 
protection ; and since it enters into the construction of both 
the foundation and the wall, it shows that the new insti- 
tution will be protected both from innovations and from 
innovators. The foundations are adorned with all manner 
of precious stones, to denote how abundant will be the 
precious truths of the gospel. 

The street was pure gold, as it were transparent glass, 
io symbolize a pure and solid institution of the highest per- 
fection. The New Jerusalem will be wholly different from 
all other institutions, political or non-political. It will be 
incomparably superior to them all. The city paved with 
gold typifies an entirely new order of government. The 
Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of 
the city; for it is a divine institution. "And the city 
hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine upon 
it;^^ neither the ecclesiastical nor the legal dominion will 
enter into the new order, "for the glory of God did lighten 
it; and the lamp thereof is the Lamb. And the nations 
shall walk amidst the light thereof.^^ It will be a gospel 
institution that will illuminate all the world. "And the 
kings of the earth do bring their honor into it^^ by mak- 
ing due returns for its beneficence. 

The bright and crystal river of life proceeding out of 
the throne of God and of the Lamb typify the beneficent 

248 



MESSIANIC mSTITUTIOXS 

influences of the gospel; and the tree of life yielding 
fruit every month is to be interpreted in the uninterrupted 
prosperity of that gospel institution. The leaves of the 
tree for the healing of the nations is to be understood as 
the restoration of society from its social and moral cor- 
ruptions, which lie at the root of disease and pestilence. 
"And there shall be no curse any more;'^ all organized 
forms of wickedness being abolished. 

"And the throne of God and the Lamb shall be therein/^ 
typifying the divine administration of the Theocracy. 
"And His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see 
His face ; and His name shall be in their f oreheads.^^ They 
shall be of the type that at first characterized the Immanuel 
institution. "And there shall be night no more :^^ the night 
of Antichrist and sin shall never again darken the na- 
tions. "And they need no light of lamp/^ no ecclesiastical 
institutions; "neither light of sun/^ no ecclesiastical do- 
minion: "for the Lord God shall give them light.^^ The 
divine presence will be among His servants in all places. 
"And they shall reign for ever and ever.^^ The Interna- 
tional Theocracy will be a permanent institution. 

Taking the race as the fall left them at first, in a state 
of absolute anarchy, the Jewish institution gave to them 
a system of legal teaching. The Christian institution gave 
to them a system of gospel teaching. The gospel system 
will be made practical, and the added Messianic feature 
will also make the law practical. Christian laws vigorously 
enforced and Christian doctrines practically applied will 
characterize the Millennial administration. The Theo- 
cratic government will be a system of free government, 
under which men will be brought up to practical ideas of 
self-government, which is the form of government under 
which man was originally placed. 

249 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 



The Three Messiaistic Weeks, A. D. 3355-3369. 

Week of the False Prophet A. D. 3355-3362 

Midst of the week A. D. 3359 

Week of the True Messiah A. D. 3358-3366 

Midst of the week A. D. 3362 

Week of the Rival Messiah A. D. 3362-3369 

Midst of the week A. D. 3366 

Explanations. — The three Messianic Weeks (of 
years) occur within a limit of fourteen years. The Week 
of the True Messiah is the central week and occupies the 
second half of the first week and the first half of the second 
week; and two half years are to be taken into the account. 
The midst of the week is difficult to date with exactitude, 
as it may occur in the beginning, middle, or end of the 
Messianic year. An important epoch will occur in the 
midst of each week. The first massacre will occur in the 
midst of the week of the False Prophet; the True Mes- 
siah will be proclaimed in the midst of the week of the 
True Messiah, and the second massacre will occur in the 
midst of the week of the rival Messiahs. 



250 



CHAPTEE XVI 

The Personal Coming of Christ 

The Bible contains several predictions of Christ^s fu- 
ture coming; but in order to understand the meaning of 
His return it is necessary to understand what is meant by 
His going away. He first descended to our low estate, and 
then ascended to His former glory, ^^far above all the 
heavens^^ (Eph. 4:10), far above our system of worlds; 
for all the upper worlds of our system are heaven to us. 
When the Son of man left our earth He passed thru mil- 
lions and millions of miles of space, beyond the limits of 
the solar system, and then thru the immense space that sep- 
arates our system of worlds from the one to which He 
went. Here we must pause; for we can follow Him no 
farther. 

The most powerful optical instruments that have ever 
been invented reveal none of the worlds of the starry dome 
of the higher heavens : we can only see the suns that are 
the centers of the far-off systems that are scattered thru 
the immense fields of space. The planets that revolve 
around them are invisible to us. Large as our sun is, in 
comparison with the planets that revolve around it, other 
suns of the far-off systems are much larger, or we could 
not see them at all. The sun that sheds light upon our 
Lord's abode may be within the range of vision ; but the 
wisest of astronomers would not attempt to locate the 
point of the higher heavens to whicn He ascended ; for we 

351 



THE HISTOEIC MEANI^^G OF PROPHECY 

can not even locate the home of Enoch and Elijah, who only 
went to a neighboring planet of our own system of worlds. 

When Jesus was about to leave His disciples He said: 
"I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and pre- 
pare a place for j^ou^ I Avill come again^ and will receive 
you unto Myself; that where I am, there 5^0 may be also/^ 
In Matthew 25 : 14 He likened His going away to a man 
going to a far country. It would be a long time before 
His return. In Luke 19 : 12 He compared His return to 
His own home to a nobleman going into a far country to 
receive for himself a kingdom^ and to return. He will re- 
ceive His kingdom^ and return for His Messianic adminis- 
tration. 

A careful study of the prophecies of Christ's coming re- 
veals that there will be four epochs of His return. His 
first return will be to one of the upper worlds of our sys- 
tem ; and His other three returns will be to our own world. 
John gives a prophetic hint of the three personal returns 
of the Lord Jesus to our earth in his Gospel^ chapter 
21 : 14^ where he speaks of the three typical appearings of 
Jesus. He appeared several times to different persons and 
companies of His disciples ; but His appearance to the ten, 
to the eleven, and to the seven were selected as types of 
three personal visits to His saints in the era of His Messi- 
anic kingdom. His appearance to the ten points to a time 
when a part of His people will not yet be fully prepared 
for His coming. His appearance to the eleven points to 
the era when all His people, the Jews, shall be fully pre- 
pared for their Lord. The seven to whom He appeared 
typify the Church in general, and points to the time when 
He shall finally gather together His elect. 

The first epoch is revealed in Daniel 7 : 9-14. Compare 
with Matthew 24 : 29, 30 ; Mark 13 : 24-26 ; Luke 21 : 25-27. 
That epoch of His coming will occur in the era of the 

S59 



THE PEKSOXxA.L COMING OF CHRIST 

fourth false Messiah. The great tribulation of the sixth 
seal and the seventy weeks^ Messianic era of the false Mes- 
siahs will have been fulfilled within a limit of time in- 
cluding over six and a half centuries. Four Antichrist 
Messiahs will have risen^ the fourth just entering upon his 
office at the close of that seventy weeks^ era. Some time 
within the era of his administration^ when all the struc- 
tures of society shall be shaken to their very foundation; 
and all organizations^ whether civil or religious, political 
or non-political^ shall be threatened with a general dissolu- 
tion, — at such a time ^^shall appear the sign of the Son 
of man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn.^^ The sign of His coming will be the cause of 
alarm; and the meaning of that sign is explained in the 
clause that follows: 

^^And they shall see the Son of man coming on the 
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.'' Daniel 
locates the place of His return in the abode of the Ancient 
of days, not on our earth. He will come on the clouds of 
heaven, not the rain clouds of our earth ; but celestial glo- 
ries, to which the glories of the Mosaic shekinah would 
compare as a drop to the ocean. To the inhabitants of 
our earth it will appear as a "sign;'' and that sign will 
be the visible appearance of the approaching glory. We 
know not how many worlds of celestial beings shall witness 
the arrival of our King coming in His glory ; but His com- 
ing will be clearly witnessed by the world to which He 
shall descend, and probably bj^ all the worlds of our system. 

Daniel introduces the Ancient of days at the time 
when the thrones were cast down, or after the great social 
upheaval of the fourth trumpet. He describes him as be- 
ing seated upon a throne of judgment. ^^Thousand thou- 
sands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten 
thousand stood before him : the judgment was set, and the 

253 



THE HISTOBIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

books were opened/^ There will be a great convention of 
the court of heaven, over which the Ancient of days will 
preside ; and the records will be opened for judgment work 
at the same time that the ^^Horn^^ shall be speaking great 
words, until he ^hall accomplish the destruction of the 
Iron Messiah. 

^^I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the 
Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to 
the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before 
him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and 
a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should 
serve Him : His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which 
shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not 
be destroyed.^^ Here is the first formal recognition of 
Jesus Christ as our world's True Messiah, and that will 
be given at a heavenly tribunal, but one at which a repre- 
sentative of our own race shall preside. We now see the 
meaning of that convention ; that its object will be to be- 
stow upon our Lord Jesus Christ the Messianic authority 
of our world. That convention will certainly consist of 
the order of angels called sons of God, who figured so 
frequently in the early history of our race. They appear 
to have the oversight of our race, but can not take the 
dominion from man, nor appoint a sovereign over men, 
from beings of a different order. But Jesus Christ as 
the Son of man can receive the kingdom of our world from 
a heavenly tribunal over which a representative of our 
race presides. 

At the request of Daniel a further insight was given 
concerning the truth of all this. The four Beasts are four 
kings, four typical Antichrist Messiahs; and the fourth 
is to be diverse from all others, "and shall devour the whole 
earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces'^ in 
a marvelously short time, his entire era lasting only forty 

254 



THE PEESOJ^AL COMING OF CHEIST 

years. He will be the fully-developed Antichrist Messiah. 
"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that 
shall arise'^ and continue in that form to the end of the 
old Antichrist power. "And another shall rise after them. 
. . . And he shall speak great words against the Most 
High ; and think to change times and laws : and they shall 
be given into his hands until a time and times and the 
dividing of time/^ or until the end of the 1,260-day cycle. 
"But the judgment shall sit; and they shall take away 
his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.^^ 
Daniel here refers to the judgment of the heavenly 
tribunal, which shall be final; but the Great Controversy 
of the fifth trumpet will also be an era of judgment work 
of the same character. After the Son of man shall come 
in His glory, "He shall send forth His angels with a 
trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together 
His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to 
the other.^^ Our Lord here speaks of the great universal 
convention in heaven which shall convene to sustain His 
authority ; but He does not speak of that alone. A similar 
convention will also take place on our earth, at a time a 
little subsequent to the one above; and messengers will be 
sent over all the earth to gather together His elect from 
the four winds, from one end of the earth to the other, 
for the great international Controversy of the fifth trum- 
pet. The authority of Christ will again be formally sus- 
tained, and the decision of the heavenly tribunal will be 
ratified on earth. Those two judicial decisions will give 
to the sustaining powers of both heaven and earth an ag- 
gressive attitude toward the powers of Antichrist, including 
the rising power of Anarchy, which will thereafter take the 
lead in opposing the authority of Christ. There will be a 
settled and determined opposition between the two powers 
of Christ and Antichrist. 

255 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

The powers of heaven will not make any direct inter- 
ference until the end of the two woes of Anarchy; but the 
elect will be providentially preserved thru the crises of those 
perilous times. There will be an unceasing conflict be- 
tween the two spiritual powers; but it will be a very un- 
equal conflict^ with the balance of power on the enemies^ 
side; and the "^^Horn^^ will continue to wear out the saints 
of the Most High until ^^he shall have accomplished to 
scatter the power of the holy people/^ near the close of 
the sixth trumpet. 

It will then be necessary for the Ancient of days^ the 
Prophet Enochs to come in person^ along with the Prophet 
Elijah^ and lead the saints on earth thru the most critical 
crisis of the age. Their return to our earth will take place 
about five centuries after the Lord^s descent to the upper 
world. Elijah will have been in the home of his transla- 
tion 4^260 years; and since he was an aged man when he 
left our earthy he will be about 4^360 years old at the time 
of his return. Enoch will have been in his celestial home 
6^381 years^ and adding the 365 years of his life on earth, 
he will be 6^746 years old at the time of his return. Both 
will be very ancient men; but Enochs being only the sev- 
enth from Adam and the oldest living representative of 
our race, will be eminently entitled to be called ^^the An- 
cient of days.^^ Those two venerable witnesses will come — 
Elijah to restore the law, and Enoch to restore the gospel — 
at the time when the holy people shall be scattered and 
their institutions broken up. 

Up to that time Christ Himself will not have returned 
in person to our earth. But after the two witnesses shall 
have finished their testimony and returned to heaven, there 
will be a great international convention, and a Messianic 
Christian government will be formally organized. ^^And 
the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in 

256 



THE PEESONAL COMING OF CHEIST 

heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become 
the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He 
shall reign for ever and ever/^ The institution of the 
Messianic kingdom will be an epoch which the powers of 
heaven will hail with delight. That will be the culmi- 
nation of the Messianic seventy weeks^ era of Daniel 
9:24. 

There are two prophetic hints of our Lord^s return at 
that particular time. The first is, Eevelation 3 : 11, in the 
words, ^^Behold, I come quickly,^^ supplementary to the ref- 
erence to the great temptation that shall come upon the 
world upon the eve of the seventh trumpet. The second 
is, Eevelation 16: 15, in the words, ^^Behold, I come as a 
thief,^^ supplemented by the words, "Blessed is he that 
w^atcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, 
and they see his shame,^^ referring to the sudden assault 
of the Antichrists upon the eve of the seventh bowl. The 
first hint points prospectively to His coming after the 
great massacre of the Church by Antichrist, and the second 
hint points prospectively to the massacre of the Antichrists 
after His coming. Those two events are only seven years 
apart, and midway between them is the odd year, which 
is the year of the Messianic annunciation of Christ. His 
return within that seven years^ era is quite clearly pointed 
out, and the prophetic hints point to the odd year ; so that 
the time of His first return to our earth is more definitely 
given than the time of His descent to the upper world. 

The manner of His coming is described in Acts 1 : 9-11 : 
'^^And when He had said these things, as they were looking. 
He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their 
sight. And while they were looking steadfastly into 
heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in 
white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why 
stand ye looking into heaven? this Jesus who was received 

17 257 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

up from you into heaven^ shall so come in like manner as 
ye beheld Him going into heaven/^ 

He will come^ not in the glory of His descent to the 
upper worlds but in His humbler aspect as the Son of man. 
His coming will be witnessed by an open-air assembly, as 
when He left His disciples; and the cloud that received 
Him out of sight will be the first visible sign of His com- 
ing. He will come in person for His kingdom, and for 
reasons we may not be able to understand; for who but 
He will be able to institute His kingdom? He will also 
^^tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Al- 
mighty God/^ and may be here in person to lead His 
people on to victory over their foes and to give to His 
saints the possession of His kingdom. 

We know not how long He will stay; but the duration 
of His return may be prefigured in His forty days' stay on 
earth after His resurrection, a day for a year. That would 
extend the time of His visit until the Jews shall be able 
to exonerate themselves from the calumnies of Antichrist 
and secure a title to the honors of the kingdom. The Lord 
will then return, not to the higher heavens where He now 
is, but to the upper worlds of our own system, there to 
remain until the end of the Millennial era. 

There is only one clear prophecy of His second return 
to our earth, and that is contained in Zechariah 14 : 2-5 : 
^^For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to bat- 
'tle; . . . and half of the city shall go forth into cap- 
tivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off 
from the city. Then shall Jehovah go forth, and fight 
against those nations as when He fought in the day of 
battle [of Har-Magedon] . And His feet shall stand in 
that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jeru- 
salem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall cleave in 
the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, 

258 



THE PERSONAL COMING OF CHRIST 

and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the 
mountain shall remove toward the norths and half of it to- 
ward the south. And ye shall flee by the valley of My 
mountains ; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto 
Azal; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled before the earth- 
quake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and Jehovah 
my God shall come, and all the holy ones with thee/^ 

The plain statement of the foregoing clause, that Je- 
hovah/s feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of 
Olives, makes it appear that He will come in person and 
be the direct agent in the cleaving of the mountain and in 
the overthrow of Antichrist^s army; after which He will 
come to His fugitive body of holy ones, the escaped Jews. 

The Lord will afterward gather His people together 
into one body (Jolin 11:49-52); and when the united 
Millennial body of Jews and Christians shall consolidate 
witfi the Jews of the East, He will attend that union in 
person and bestow upon them their new name (Isa. 62 : 2). 
After introducing the new era He will depart as before, to 
the upper worlds of our system, there to remain until the 
end of the age. 

There are two prophecies of the Lord's fmal coming, 
and one prophetic hint. The latter is in Revelation 22 : 20, 
"Yea: I come quickly .'' Those words are appended to the 
close of John's revelation of last things, and of the time 
when the new order of things will have been fully accom- 
plished, which will not be until near the end of the age. 
The final return of the Lord Jesus will then be near at 
hand. 

1 Cor. 15 : 51, 52. "Behold, J tell you a mystery : We 
all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a mo- 
ment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for 
the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in- 
corruptible, and we shall be changed." 

259 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

1 Thess. 4: 15-17. 'Tor this we say unto you by the 
word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto 
the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise precede them 
that are fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend 
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall 
rise first: then we that are alive, that are left, shall to- 
gether with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the 
Lord in the air: and so shall Ave ever be with the Lord.'^ 
When the Lord comes on His final return. He will not de- 
scend to the surface of our earth; but will call up the 
saints to meet Him in the higher regions of the air, ^'in 
the clouds.^^ His return at that time will be very sudden. 

1 Thess. 5 : 2, 3. ''Fov yourselves know that the day of 
the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they 
shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh 
upon them, and travail as upon a woman with child; and 
they shall not escape.^^ The class here referred to are such 
as shall be left on the earth when the saints shall depart 
with their Lord. They will include the mockers of 
2 Peter 3:3. 

The meaning of the destruction that shall be visited 
upon them is explained in 2 Peter 3 : 10, "But the day of 
the Lord will come as a thief; in which the heavens shall 
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be 
dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works 
that are therein shall be discovered^^ (by the flames). That 
will be the end of this human era; for every form of ani- 
mated life will be destroyed in the great conflagration that 
shall dissolve all the worlds of our system, including our 
own world; for Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass 
away.^^ 

The sudden and unexpected event of the Lord's final 
coming makes it appear that there will be no visible sign 

260 



THE PEESONAL COMING OF CHEIST 

of His approach. There will be a sudden trumpet call, and 
the voice of the archangel calling the sleeping saints up 
out of Hades; and the living saints will be changed, and 
all will be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. 
That resurrection transaction will occupy but a very short 
time. The living saints will be changed "in a moment, in 
the twinkling of an eye;^^ and it is quite probable that the 
dead will be raised instantly. 

Their momentary removal will be but the beginning 
of a tremendous flight thru millions of miles of space, at 
a rate of speed of which we can have no conception; for 
the passage of spiritual beings thru space appears to be of 
lightning-like rapidity. The saints will be transported be- 
yond our system of worlds, to the place prepared for them 
in the higher heavens; and the angels will likewise leave 
their abodes and go to other homes. Then our beautiful 
and orderly system of worlds will be broken up. Our 
beautiful creation came out of chaos; and to chaos it will 
return. 



261 



CHAPTEE XVII 

Jewry in Prophecy 

It is the purpose here to trace out the prophetic outline 
of the Jews as it is given in the Old Testament Scriptures. 
Only three times in John^s book of Eevelation does he dis- 
tinctly refer to the Jews^ and it could not be clearly shown 
that the Jews are there intended without the aid of Old 
Testament prophecy. Now, while it is true that God's 
elect Christian body of the future is prophetically regarded 
as the true Israel, and is figuratively compared to His 
chosen nation, it is also true that some prophecies refer 
distinctly to the Jews; and to these we shall chiefly con- 
fine ourselves in this article. 

Isaiah introduces the Jews in chapter 2:5 to the end 
of the chapter. The prophetic viewpoint is the fifth seal 
near its close. The Jews are rebuked for being "sooth- 
sayers like the Philistines/' or corrupted Protestantism. 
They also "strike hands with strangers/' and do not main- 
tain their proper rectitude as Jews, as Moses taught them 
when he commanded that they should be separate from all 
other nations. "Their land is full of silver and gold, 
neither is there any end to their treasures." They are 
very wealthy; but "they worship the works of their own 
hands" by their idolatrous love of wealth. But a change 
is coming in "a day of Jehovah of hosts/' and that day 
is the sixth seal. 

263 



JEWRY m PROPHECY 

The eleventh chapter of Ezekiel introduces the Jews in 
some national center of their own^ previous to their return 
to their inheritance, and represents them as being domi- 
nated by mischievous men, who express a determination to 
remain where they are. They ^^fear the sword/^ probably 
because of some disturbances in the East; but "I will bring 
a sword upon you, saith the Lord God;^^ and it will be in 
the Antichrist wars of the sixth seal. ^^And I will deliver 
you into the hands of strangers, and will execute judg- 
ments among you. Ye shall fall by the sword: I will 
judge you in the border of Israel ; and ye shall know that 
I am the Lord.^^ The Jews will lose their independence, 
and will suffer so severely from the ravages of war that 
they will leave their settlement and go to the border of 
their ancient inheritance, where some of their people may 
then be already living. 

But the inhabitants of Jerusalem will say, ^^Get you 
far from the Lord; unto us is this land given in posses- 
sion/^ The earlier occupants will deny them the right to 
their inheritance. "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, 
altho I have cast them far off among the heathen, and 
altho I have scattered them among the countries, yet will 
I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where 
they shall come.'^ They shall be able to maintain the 
true worship of God in their scattered settlements. 
"Therefore say. Thus saith the Lord God, I will even 
gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the 
countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you 
the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they 
shall take away all the detestable things thereof, and all 
the abominations from thence. . . . But as for them 
whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable 
things and their abominations, I will recompense their way 
upon their own heads, saith the Lord God.'^ 

263 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

Joel 3 : 2 makes it appear that the Jews who shall oc- 
cupy their land shall be scattered and their land parti- 
tioned. That will be the preparation for bringing in those 
who were denied their rights. But the Protestant people 
will conspire to bring them to America^ probably for the 
purpose of building up the waste places that shall abound 
after the desolations of the sixth seal (Joel 3:4-6). To 
that period Jeremiah 2 : 2 apparently refers^ speaking of 
the Church in general, but Israel in particular. ^^Go and 
cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, I remember thee, the 
kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when 
thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that 
was not sown [the wastes described in Isa. 6:11, 12]. 
Israel was holiness unto the Lord: and the firstfruits of 
His increase.^^ Israel will partake of the benefits of that 
era of evangelism in the latter part of the sixth seal; and 
they will probably remain in America until the wars of 
the first and second trumpets shall cause them to retire 
again to their ancient inheritance in the East. 

That era of the Jews^ recovery will begin near the time 
of the great apostasy of the third trumpet, which will prob- 
ably originate in the East, but will become very strong in 
America, where the Antichrist stronghold will be at that 
time. Both Europe and America will be flooded with the 
new and rising form of Antichrist, while new forms of 
error shall multiply; and idolatry, wickedness, and immo- 
rality shall prevail. The Jews will begin to become cor- 
rupted thru their contact with the old form of Antichrist 
(Ezek. 20:6, 7); and it will be better for them to re- 
move far away from the corrupting influence of the West. 
But they will at length come in contact with the later form 
of Antichrist in the East, and will be corrupted by them. 

By comparing the second chapter of Jeremiah with the 
sixteenth and twentieth chapters of Ezekiel, a prophetic 

264 



JEWRY IN PROPHECY 

outline of the Jews^ future circumstances and defections 
for about five hundred years from the first trumpet can be 
obtained. Jeremiah 2:6 describes the- circumstances in 
America at the time of the Jews^ departure. The country 
will be reduced to a wilderness thru the ravages of war 
until it shall become ''a land of deserts and pits, a land 
of drought, and of the shadow of death, a land that no 
man passed thru, and where no man dwelt,'^ because of the 
dangers to which they would be exposed. 

Ezekiel 16 : 3-5 describes their forlorn condition at the 
time of their early settlement in their own dominions: 
^"^Thy birth and thy nativity is of the land of Canaan ; thy 
father was an Amorite, and thy mother a Hittite,^^ so said 
because of their coming out of the bosom of the corrupted 
Protestant dominions, whose type is ancient Canaan. 
^^None eye pitied thee to have compassion upon thee, but 
thou wast cast out in the open field, ... in the day 
that thou wast born.^^ They will be left in a desolate and 
unprotected state in the infancy of their future nativity. 
^^And when I passed by thee, ... I said unto thee. 
Live. ... I have caused thee to multiply as the bud 
of the field, and thou hast increased and waxen great, and 
thou art come to excellent ornaments.^^ The figurative de- 
scription of the Jewish nation as it is given by Ezekiel at 
length, shows that they will prosper and be a model nation. 
"Thou wast exceeding beautiful, and didst prosper into 
a kingdom ; and thy renown went forth among the heathen 
for thy beauty: for it was perfect thru My comeliness, 
which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord God.^^ The sig- 
nal favor of Jehovah resting upon the Jewish nation will 
accomplish great things for them. 

"But thou didst trust in thine own beauty and playedst 
the harlot because of thy renown.^^ The desire for popu- 
larity among others will cause them to depart from their 

265 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

integrity. The defections of the Jews as they are described 
at length in Ezekiel 16 : 15-34 is an outline of their abomi- 
nations in the days of their future national prosperity. 
^^And it came to pass after all thy wickedness [woe, woe 
unto thee! saith the Lord God] that thou hast built unto 
thee an eminent place, and hast made thee an high place in 
every street.^^ The ancient high places of Israel will have 
their antitype in some idolatrous innovation, to which the 
Jews will cling with the same tenacity as did their an- 
cestors to their high places of old. 

^^Thou hast also committed fornication with thy neigh- 
bors the Egyptians.^^ They will go to the corruptions of 
the old Antichrists in the East. ^^Behold, therefore, I have 
stretched out My hand over thee, and have diminished thine 
ordinary food, and delivered thee unto the will of them that 
hate thee, the daughters of the Philistines who are 
ashamed of thy lewd ways.'^ The Protestant people will 
abhor the Jews because of their Antichrist corruptions. 
"Thou hast played the harlot also with the Assyrians,^^ the 
second form of Antichrist, after they shall spread over 
into the East. "Thou hast moreover multiplied thy forni- 
cations in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea.^^ They will 
continue to grow more and more corrupt, even under Prot- 
estant dominion, until the rise of the third form of Anti- 
christ. 

The Jewish people will at length be visited with severe 
judgments, and their land will be overrun with the ravages 
of war. Amos says: "An adversary there shall be even 
round about the land; and he shall bring down thy strength 
from thee, and thy palaces shall be spoiled. . . . Come 
to Bethel and transgress ; at Gilgal multiply transgression ; 
and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes 
every three years : and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with 
leaven, and proclaim and publish thy free offerings; for 

266 



JEWRY IN PROPHECY 

this liketh you, ye cliildren of Israel/' The Jews with 
all their corruptions will continue to keep up their appear- 
ance of devotion as of old, until their former chastisements 
will have to be repeated. ^^And I also have given you 
cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and want of bread in 
all your palaces . . . withholden the rain while there 
was yet three months to the harvest . . . smitten you 
with blasting and mildew . . . sent among you the 
pestilence after the manner of Egypt . . . overthrown 
some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and 
ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning : yet have 
ye not returned unto Me, saith the Lord. Therefore thus 
will I do unto thee, Israel: and because I will do this 
unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, Israel. . . . For 
thus saith the Lord God, The city that went out by a 
thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went forth 
by an hundred shall leave ten to the house of Israel.^' 

The sixth chapter of Amos shows that after their many 
chastisements, such as have any show of prosperity (both 
Jews and Christians) will be very voluptuous and will not 
sympathize with ^^the afflictions of Joseph,^' the better class 
who are grieved by them. This obduracy will be visited 
upon them by the sending of a nation against them, who 
will greatly afflict them. The twenty-third chapter of Jere- 
miah evidently refers to the same time, and testifies against 
the corruption of the Jewish pastors. 

We return to Ezekiel : ^^Behold, therefore I will gather 
all thy lovers, with whom thou hast taken pleasure, and all 
them that thou hast loved, with all them that thou hast 
hated; I will even gather them round about against thee. 
. . . And I will also give thee into their hand, and 
they shall throw down thine eminent place, and shall break 
doAvn thy high places: they shall strip thee also of thy 
clothes, and shall take away thy fair jewels, and leave thee 

267 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

naked and bare. Tliey shall also bring up a company 
against thee, and they shall stone thee with stones, and 
thrust thee thru with their swords, and they shall burn 
thine houses with fire, and execute judgment upon thee in 
the sight of many women: and I will cause thee to cease 
from playing the harlot/^ The corrupted Jewish nation 
will be very severely dealt with. 

^^Thine elder sister is Samaria, and thy younger sister 
is Sodom. . . . When I shall bring again their cap- 
tivity . . . then will I bring again the captivity of thy 
captives in the midst of them. . . . And I will give 
them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant.^^ 
The foregoing clause appears to refer to the time of the 
reformation which shall begin in the fourth trumpet, and 
is to be identified with the circumstance mentioned in 
Isaiah 19 : 24, 25. Sodom and Samaria appear to stand 
for the two prevailing forms of Antichrist of the third 
trumpet, both of which will owe their origin to corrupted 
Christianity. After a general reformation shall be under- 
taken in the early part of the fourth trumpet, those two 
Antichrist powers will not only recognize each other, but 
Avill also extend their fraternal recognition to the Jews. 
That covenant, therefore, will not be of the Jews. 

The ninth and tenth chapters of Isaiah describe the 
Jews^ incorrigible disposition, and also the final aSliction 
that shall bring about their reformation at the time above 
mentioned. At that time "the Lord will cut off from Israel 
head and tail, rush and branch in one day ;^^ and the agent 
he shall employ will be the second power of Antichrist. 
They will become very oppressive toward the Jews in the 
latter part of the third trumpet, and will "tread them 
down like the mire of the street.^^ At length they will 
move on to the Jewish nation, and will make such a rid- 
dance of them as to "consume his thorns and his briers 

268 



JEWRY IN PROPHECY 

in one day^^ (one prophetic year). The corrupters among 
the Jews will fall in the war, while the remnant shall be 
providentially preserved; and they will ^^stay upon the 
Holy One of Israel in truth. . . . And the Lord of 
hosts shall stir up a scourge [for the Antichrists] accord- 
ing to the slaughter of Midian at the rock Oreb.^^ Isaiah 
10 : 28-34 describes the preparation for a final assault in 
which Antichrist is represented as moving on toward the 
city of Jerusalem. He proceeds as far as ISTob, but does 
not get Sinj farther ^'^until Jehovah of hosts shall lop the 
bough with terror; and the high ones of stature shall be 
brought down^ and the haughty shall be humbled^^ in the 
scourge that shall fall upon them. 

That scourge will save the Jews; and their own chas- 
tisements will accomplish their correction and prepare the 
way for a reformation. Two reformed branches will come 
out of that reformation, one "^^a root out of the stem of 
Jesse/^ and the other ^^a branch out of his roots/^ the 
latter being the more radical branch (Isa. 11: 1). 

The sixth chapter of Micah shows that the Jews will 
have a place in the great Controversy, and also outlines 
the character of the reformation. There will then be a 
second recovery of the Jews, the radicals taking the lead 
in gathering their dispersed people from the four corners 
of the earth^^ (Isa. 11 : 12). They will also ^'^fly upon the 
shoulder of the Philistines toward the West,^^ in the north- 
ern part of South America. 

That movement is explained in the seventeenth chapter 
of Ezekiel. The Anarchists will make a treaty with the 
Jews about the beginning of the fifth trumpet, and the Jews 
will become subject allies of the Anarchists. The latter will 
then deport a large colony of Jews, along with their men 
of might, to South America. That will be a stroke of 
policy on the part of the Anarchists, to keep the Jews from 

269 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

becoming too important, by dividing their nation, that 
they may be able to keep them under their power. Their 
leading motive will probably be to prevent the Jews from 
giving the old Antichrists their support when they shall 
attempt to set up another Messiah. Their plan will suc- 
ceed, and there will be no more Antichrist Messiahs as long 
as the Jews shall keep their treaty with the Anarchists. 

The fruitful field and great waters that Ezekiel de- 
scribes of the Jewish settlement answers to the fertile val- 
ley of the Amazon with its mighty tributaries, a river that 
contains a greater volume of water than any other river 
in the world. Under the favor of the Anarchists the Jews 
will become "a spreading vine of low stature,'^ the ^^Dase 
kingdom^^ the Anarchists designed them to be, "sending 
forth branches, and shooting forth sprigs,^^ or building new 
communities. 

But Iheir contact with the western Antichrists will have 
a currupting tendency. Hosea says of that time, "There is 
no truth, nor kindness, nor knowledge of God in the land. 
There is naught but swearing and breaking faith, and 
killing, and stealing, and committing adultery. They 
break out, and blood toucheth blood. . . . My people 
are destroyed for lack of knowledge. . . . Whoredom 
and wine and new wine take away the understanding. My 
people ask counsel at their stock, and their staff declareth 
unto them: for the spirit of whoredom hath caused them 
to err, and they have played the harlot from under their 
God. . . . They have dealt treacherously against the 
Lord; for they have begotten strange children.^^ 

EzekieFs parable of the vine and the two eagles shows 
that the Jews will incline to friendly relations with the 
old Antichrists, and that it will cause their treaty with 
the Anarchists to come to an unhappy end ; and his parable 
of the two lion whelps shows that the second era of the 

270 



JEWEY IN PEOPHECY 

Jewish nation will be as unfortunate as the first. Isaiah 
14:3^ 4 makes it appear that the Anarchists will be very 
oppressive toward the Jews. This also appears from 
Amos 7 : 1-3^ in which he describes their oppressions under 
the figure of a locust scourge devouring the aftermath after 
the king's mowings. The Jews will be shorn by taxation, 
and their substance afterward devoured by their anarchistic 
neighbors. They will be bitter over their misfortunes 
(Ezek. 18), and will attribute them to the earlier defec- 
tions of their ancestors, using the unjust parable, ^'The 
fathers have eaten sour grapes, and set the children's teeth 
on edge,*' and complaining that "the w^ay of the Lord is 
not equaP (equitable). 

The twentieth chapter of Ezekiel is a rehearsal of the 
Jews^ defections from the time of their future nativity 
until their final reformation. The clause of verses 30-32 
shows that they will return to their former corruptions 
and will purpose to be like the nations around them. This 
God forbids, and says: "With a mighty hand, and with a 
stretched out arm, and with fury poured out will I rule 
over you. And I will bring you out from the people, and 
will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scat- 
tered. . . . And I will bring you into the wilderness 
of the peoples, and there will I plead with you face to face 
like as I pleaded with 5^our fathers in the wilderness of the 
land of Egypt.^^ It appears that the Jews will not keep 
within their own confines, which will probably account for 
their inclining to be as the nations around them ; and they 
will be gathered, or rather driven back to their settlement. 
The "wilderness of the peoples" to which they shall be 
gathered appears to mean their settlement proper in South 
America, since the context clearly shows that they will not 
again be permitted to return to their home in the East 
until after their reformation. (See verses 38-44.) 

271 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

Jeremiah 2 : 9 says^ ^^Wherefore I will yet plead with 
you, and with your children's children will I plead/' That 
era of three generations will be fulfilled in the first one 
liundred and twenty years of the fifth trumpet. It is also 
the era of Babylon mentioned in Jeremiah 27:7. Hosea 
5 : 7 says, ^^Now shall a month devour them with their por- 
tions;'' and that month will be fulfilled in the last thirty 
years of the fifth trumpet, which will be the era of the wars 
of the South. Ezekiel 20 : 45-48 is an epitome of the extent 
ajid ravages of those wars: ^^The flaming flame shall not 
be quenched, and all faces from the south to the north shall 
be burned therein." 

Amos 7 : 4-6 writes : "Thus the Lord Jehovah showed 
me; and, behold, the Lord Jehovah called to contend by 
fire ; and it devoured the great deep [the anarchistic settle- 
ment], and would have eaten up the part [or portion of 
the Jews]. Then said I, Lord Jehovah, cease, I beseech 
Thee: how shall Jacob stand? for he is small. Jehovah 
repented also concerning this : This also shall not be, saith 
the Lord Jehovah." The wars of the South will check 
the Anarchists' ravages among the Jews; but when the 
iVnarchists shall themselves be devoured of their substance 
in the first stage of the war (Dan. 11 : 28), the Jews' set- 
tlement will be threatened ; but the danger will be averted. 

After the return of the expedition mentioned by Daniel 
11 : 30, the Jews, who will probably be influenced by their 
earlier friendly relations with the old Antichrists, will 
throw off tiieir allegiance to the Anarchists and enter into 
a treaty with the former, in order to save themselves from 
the overflowing scourge of war, which might overtake them 
(Isa. 28:15). They will recognize the Antichrist candi- 
date for the Messianic throne, and the Jewish sanctuaries 
will be profaned, and the abomination of desolation set up 
(Dan. 11:30^ 31), "They that understand among the 

272 



JEWEY IN PEOPHECY 

people/^ both Jews and Christians who shall adhere to their 
faith, will be greatly persecuted. The old Antichrists will 
then become very arrogant, their Messiah exalting his Mes- 
sianic claims ^^above every god, and speaking marvelous 
things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the 
indignation be accomplished,'^ in the overthrow of An- 
archy. 

The land of Israel referred to in Ezekiel 21 : 2 is the 
home of the Jews in South America. The chapter re- 
ferred to makes it appear that the Jews will suffer severely 
in all those wars of the South, when the sword shall be 
doubled the third time in the three expeditions against the 
South. Isaiah 21 : 1-10 describes the suspense of the Jews 
during the final and decisive engagement between the old 
Antichrists and the Anarchists. The Jews will be inter- 
ested in the defeat of the Anarchists, and watchmen will 
^^stand continually upon the watch tower in the day time, 
and ... in ward whole nights/'^ waiting for intelli- 
gence concerning the issue of the conflict. The suspense 
will at last be ended by the glad news of the fall of Baby- 
lon, the anarchistic stronghold. The concluding clause, 
'^''O my threshing, and the son of my floor: that which I 
have heard from Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, have 
I declared unto you,'' implies that the Jews will recognize 
the hand of God in the overthrow of Anarchy. 

The twenty-second chapter of Ezekiel describes the 
wickedness and immorality of the Jews in the era of their 
Antichrist league. The twenty-third chapter of Ezekiel 
also describes their corruptions, under the figure of two 
lewd women called Aholah and Aholibah, of whom the 
elder branch called Jerusalem is Aholah, and the younger 
branch called Samaria is Aholibah. The parable repre- 
sents them as going on from bad to worse. The visitations 
there described in a general way include the tribulations 
18 273 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

of the fifth trumpet and the later tribulations of the early 
part of the sixth trumpet. 

The twenty-second chapter of Isaiah describes the de- 
portment of the Jews during their perils. They will 
^^break down the city to fortify the walls/^ or defraud their 
people to provide means of defense. They will endeavor to 
make themselves safe without looking to God; and in the 
day when He shall ^^call to weepings and to mournings and 
to baldness^ and to girding with sackcloth/^ they will give 
themselves to feasting while they can have a good time. 
^'Let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die. 
Surely this iniquity shall not be i)urged from you till ye 
die, saith the Lord God of hosts.^^ The incorrigible pleas- 
ure-seekers will fall in those wars. 

The twentj^-eighth chapter of Isaiah describes the Anti- 
christ Jews of the West and foretells the drunkenness that 
shall exist among them in the era of their league with 
the Antichrists. Their teachers are but babes in under- 
standing, to whom the word of the Lord is understood by 
lines and precepts only, ^^here a little, and there a little.^^ 
The Jewish institution is as a bed that is too narrow and 
too short for a man; it is behind the age. Their Anti- 
christ treaty is also "a covenant with death, and an agree- 
ment with sheol;^^ and the overflowing scourge that they 
sought to escape shall overtake them. 

The twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah describes the Jews 
of the East. They bear a strong resemblance to their 
brethren of the West, only ^^they are drunken, but not with 
wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the 
Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, 
and hath closed your eyes, the prophets; and your heads, 
the seers, hath He covered.^' To them the vision is as a 
sealed book to the learned, and can not be read under- 
standingly by the unlearned. But a marvelous change will 

274 



JEWEY IN PKOPHECY 

take place, "The wisdom of their wise men shall perish, 
and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid/' 
They will throw aside their rabbinical authorities ; and that 
will prepare them for a still greater change, when "the 
deaf shall hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the 
blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness/' 

The part the Jews shall take in aiding the old Anti- 
christs to set up a Messiah against the opposition of the 
Anarchists will bring the latter against their settlement. 
In the ninth 3^ear of the false Messiah's reign the Anarch- 
ists will take up arms against the Jews (Ezek. 24:1). 
The old Antichrists, after crowning their Messiah, will re- 
gard the Jews as a people that "could not profit them, 
nor be a help nor profit, but a shame, and also a reproach." 
They will first go to the Jews' settlement in South America, 
"whence came the lion and the lioness (the Jews), the 
viper and the fiery flying serpent" (the two later forms of 
Antichrist), and will collect a heavy tribute from the Jews; 
after which they will break their treaty with them^ in order 
to save themselves from again going to war with the An- 
archists. (See Isa. 30:1-7; Ezek. 29:7.) The Jews, 
stripped, and then deserted by their Antichrist allies, and 
left singlehanded to fight against the powerful and warlike 
Anarchists, will see a terrible destruction coming upon 
themselves. Their calamity is illustrated by Ezekiel's par- 
able of the boiling caldron, and their great distress by the 
sign of the prophet's dumb grief. There will be a dreadful 
war upon the Jews, and, like a potter's vessel, the Jewish 
settlement will be broken up (Isa. 30: 14). ' 

Prophetically viewed, that great dilemma of the Jews 
should be the occasion of their return to God; and then, 
by remaining quiet and confident they would be safe from 
their anarchistic foes ; but they will attempt to retreat, and 
will be swiftly pursued (Isa. 30:15, 16). After those 

375 



THE HISTORIC/MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

calamities they will be so bitter and despondent over their 
misfortunes as to complain^ like their ancestors before 
them, that ^^the way of the Lord is not equitable'^ (Ezek. 
33:17-20). 

Three years after the Anarchists shall open war against 
the Jews of the West, the Jews of the East will be at- 
tacked. That will be in the twelfth year of the Jews^ fu- 
ture four hundred years^ captivity, dating from the begin- 
ning of the sixth trumpet (Ezek. 33: 21). ^They that in- 
habit those waste places of the land of Israel speak, saying, 
Abraham was one, and he inhabited the land; but we are 
many: the land is given us for inheritance^^ (verse 24). 
At that time their ancient inheritance will have been occu- 
pied by many of the Jews for many centuries. They will 
therefore consider themselves secure, believing that God 
has given them the permanent restoration of their land. 
The context shows that they will be very wicked and im- 
moral, while professedly religious;; and they are therefore 
denounced to be destroyed by the sword, by beasts, and by 
pestilence; and all the Jews will be scattered ^^upon all 
the face of the earth" (Ezek. 34: 6), within the era of the 
international wars and desolations of the sixth trumpet. 

Ezek. 29:21; 34:1-11; Zech. 11. In the era of the 
Jews^ Antichrist league they will be a ^^flock of slaughter," 
trodden down and oppressed by the Antichrists; and 'Hhe 
most miserable of sheep," because ^^their own shepherds pity 
them not." ^Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Behold, I am 
against the shepherds; and I will require My flock at their 
hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; 
neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for 
I will deliver My flock from their mouth, that they may 
not be meat for them. For thus saith the Lord God, 
Behold, I, even I, will both search My sheep and seek 
them out." The furious assaults of the Anarchists and the 

276 



JEWRY IN PEOPHECY 

perfidy of the old Antichrists will alienate the minds of 
the Jews from their Antichrist allies and open the way for 
a reformation that will be carried on by the Christian re- 
formers. The schism of Zechariah 11 : 14 will be one of 
the effects of the reformation, the Eastern and Western 
Jews becoming separate nations. 

^^In that day will I cause the horn of the house of 
Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of 
the mouth in the midst of them ; and they shall know that 
I am the Lord.^^ The horn of the house of Israel is to 
be identified with the branch of Isaiah 11 : 1. Isaiah 11 : 10 
^is written, ^^And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, 
which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall 
the nations seek.^^ That prophecy will begin to be ful- 
filled in the later reformation, which shall be accomplished 
by Christian reformers, and the Branch of Jeremiah 23 : 5 
and 33:15 will be a revival of that earlier reformation. 
Its prophetic description in Eevelation 14 : 1-5 makes it 
appear that it will be similar to the Immanuel institution. 
It will be a great step in the right direction, but they 
will be several centuries behind the age of Messianic ref- 
ormation. At that time the reformed Jews will recognize 
the Christ as their Shepherd and Savior, but will have no 
Messianic conceptions of Him. 

The hostilities and persecutions of enemies will check 
the reformation for a while ; and fourteen years later both 
the Jews and reformers will be scattered by their perse- 
cutors. The reformers will evade their enemies (Zeph. 
2:3), but the Jews will be exposed to a great peril. That 
circumstance is mentioned in Ezekiel 35:1-15; 36:2-5; 
Obadiah 11. They will be deprived of both their homes, 
as it appears from Ezekiel 35 : 10. Their possessions will 
be confiscated, their dominions partitioned and sold by 
lot to other nations, and their substance carried away by 

27.7 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

strangers; and they will be without a home and without 
protection, and will be in danger of having their national 
existence obliterated. Their anguish on that occasion is 
described by Jeremiah 30 : 5-7. That clause is a prophetic 
hint of the distressing calamity that Ezekiel and Obadiah 
describe; and Jeremiah places it at the time of the refor- 
mation, upon which the promise of the Jews^ future res- 
toration is based, and upon the eve of the ^^continuing 
whirlwind^^ of international war mentioned in verse 23. 
Just when the Jews shall be threatened with imminent de- 
struction there will be a great cloudburst of war, and 
their persecutors will find enough to do to take care of 
themselves. 

Daniel 12:1 is a prophetic hint of the Jews' part in 
the great international tribulations above mentioned, but 
out of which their elect shall every one be delivered. 
Amos 9:9, 10 is written, "^Tor, lo, I will command, and 
I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as 
corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall 
upon the earth. All the sinners of my people shall die by 
the sword, which say. The evil shall not overtake nor pre- 
vent us.'' The corrupters of the Jews will fall in the in- 
ternational wars of the era of their dispersion. 

The era of those great tribulations that shall occur be- 
tween the 125th and 195th years of the sixth trumpet will 
also be an era of reconstruction for the reformed Jews. 
Zechariah's vision of the company among the myrtle trees 
represents the reformers as an independent body at the 
close of that era. The many-colored horses typify a great 
diversity of sentiment, and that probably accounts for the 
slow growth of the reformation there described. The re- 
formed Jews will be a great reinforcement to the Church at 
a time when they shall be greatly needed ; for Protestant- 
ism will then be in its wane. The Jews at that time will 

878 



JEWEY IN PROPHECY 

be scattered among "every nation and kindred and tongue 
and people/^ and will take the reformation with them; 
while the Messianic Christians shall be evangelizing the 
world. 

After the international wars shall end, the Jews will 
rapidly increase in numbers and importance. "Behold, the 
days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of 
Israel and the house of Judah, with the seed of man, and 
with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that 
like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to 
break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to 
afflict; so will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, 
saith the Lord'' (Jer. 31 : 27, 28). "And I will multiply 
upon you man and beast; and they shall increase and 
bring fruif' (Ezek. 36:11). 

The possibilities of the reformation are set forth in a 
general way in Ezekiel 34 : 23-31. The Jews will be united 
under one Shepherd, and their peace will be assured. The 
vision of dry bones, and the parable of the two sticks in 
chapter 37, have the same import. The prospect in those 
prophecies is far-reaching, extending even to the era of a 
perfect restoration. All the Millennial and latter-day pros- 
pects are based upon the reformation. 

After the breaking up of the governments a general 
reconstruction will be necessary, and the question of an 
international world system will be settled between the poli- 
ticians and the Anarchists ; but the reformers will have no 
voice in the matter. They will not be represented and will 
have no authority in the government. The license of an- 
archy will be the world's substitute for liberty, and prob- 
ably no restraint will be put upon freedom of speech. The 
reformers will therefore have liberty, but not protection. 
Their peculiar tenets will probably attract little attention 
until their growing importance shall begin to be realized. 

279 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

The Jews will be very aggressive, *^ike an hearth of fire 
among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf ;^^ and 
the Christian reformers will be equally aggressive. It will 
become apparent that they will at length succeed in setting 
up a rival international government, and that it will mean 
their enemies^ overthrow. 

In all the persecutions that shall be waged against the 
reformation in that era of conflict the Jews will sujBEer in 
common with the Christians. There will therefore be a 
unity of spirit promoted by the fellowship of suffering be- 
tween those two witnessing institutions. Together will 
they fall in the great massacre at the hands of the An- 
archists, and their fraternal fellowship will be greatly 
strengthened after their two champion witnesses shall labor 
and die together, and together ascend up to heaven; and 
there will be a simultaneous revival of the Christian and 
Jewish reformers after that era of persecution shall end. 
The other branch of Jews will then become Christianized, 
but will retain more of their Jewish characteristics than 
their brethren of the reformation (Eev. 15: 1-4). 

In the international convention that the reformers shall 
hold after the revival of the Church, both Jews and Chris- 
tians will formally sustain the authority of Christ, and it 
is quite probable that the union of the Jewish Branch and 
Christian reformers will begin to be anticipated about that 
time. In the later Messianic convention that shall be held 
after the great Antichrist convention steps will be taken 
for such a union; but it will be found necessary to clear 
away all calumnies attaching to the Jews, probably by rea- 
son of their earlier defections, before such a union can 
take place. Note the passage contained in Revelation 
19: 8: ^^And it was given unto her that she should array 
herself in fine linen, bright and pure- for the fine linen 
is the righteous acts of the saints.^^ 

280 



JEWEY IN PROPHECY 

The third chapter of Zechariah introduces the Jewish 
Branch at the beginning of the Millennial era. The com- 
bined powers of Anarchy will have been defeated, but the 
reformed Jews will have another conflict before them. The 
Satanic adversary who stands at the high priest^s right 
hand in Zechariah's vision, is the representative head of 
the Dragon Antichrists, who will remain neutral in the 
Messianic conflict of the seventh trumpet, but will after- 
ward oppose the Jews in a nine years^ slander suit in the 
beginning of the Millennial era. The "days beyond a year'' 
mentioned by Isaiah 32 : 9-15, refer to that time pros- 
pectively from the beginning of the sixth trumpet; and 
the words, '^e careless women,'' appear to hint at the 
Jews' effeminacy in yielding to recognize the claims of an 
Antichrist Messiah. That act of the Jews will probably 
be the ground of the slanderous accusations that they will 
afterward have to face. 

The Dragon will have a reason of his own for desiring 
to defeat the Jews; for should he be able to sustain his 
calumnious accusations, and the Jews then be admitted 
into the Millennial administration, he would demand the 
same right for his own institution. He would then bring 
in the other two members of the devil's trinity, and Satan 
would take the world again. That is the peril the Church 
will have to face at the beginning of the Millennial era. 
It will be the most important slander suit the world shall 
ever see, and will be tried before the highest tribunal on 
earth. It will be a crisis equal in importance to the era 
of the Great Controversy, and will be a second fight with 
the Dragon. The taking away of the high priest's filthy 
garments and the change of raiment in Zechariah's vision 
prefigures the successful vindication of the Branch. 

It seems apparent that the branch of reformed Jews 
called the Branch in the early eras of the reformation, and 

381 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

the Branch in the Millennial era will be a nearer approach 
to the reformed Christians than the other branch of the 
Jewish reformation, and will be the first to recognize the 
Messianic character of Christ; and after their vindication 
the intended union will take place. Zechariah's vision of 
the two olive trees and the bowl illustrates the form of 
the union and shows that it will not be a consolidation of 
the two brandies^ since each retains its individuality. The 
Messianic kingdom will be vested in the united institution, 
and we learn from Zechariah that the Jewish Branch will 
have a king and four subject princes. We see in them the 
five wise virgins of the Lord^s parable; while the five 
foolish virgins represent the other branch of Jewish re- 
formers, who will be rejected probably on account of their 
attachment to the Mosaic economy. 

Ten years after the union will be the Pentecostal year 
(Isa. 32: 15), which will occur fifty years after the year 
of Christ's Messianic proclamation. It will be the begin- 
ning of an era of prosperity, when both Jews and Chris- 
tians hitherto persecuted and oppressed ^^shall dwell in 
peaceable habitations and in sure dwellings, and in quiet 
resting places,^' under the Millennial administration. 

The Millennial center will be selected somewhere on 
the battleground of the Messianic victories for Christ. The 
Antichrist Jews will have disappeared along with the Prot- 
estants near the close of the sixth trumpet, and the Mo- 
saic branch of the reformed Jews will emigrate to the far 
East and settle in and around Palestine. Their flourishing 
condition is described in the fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. 
The fifty-seventh and fifty-eighth chapters of Isaiah de- 
scribe the corruptions- that shall exist among the Jews of 
the East at a later time. The need of a reformation will 
then be realized, and in the 671st year of the Millennial 
era a movement will be started for a reformation and for 

283 



JEWEY IX PROPHECY 

the rebuildiBg of the Jewish temple. (See Haggai 1.) 
The objection that the time has not yet come for such an 
undertaking will be met and overcome. 

Twenty-three years of reformation will complete a sev- 
enty years^ period of reconstruction, ending in the 694th 
year of the Millennial era. That Millennial reformation 
will probably represent Messianic ideas, and it is quite 
probable that the Dragon Antichrists will begin to deceive 
the nations about that time, since it introduces the last era 
of the false Messiah. Twenty-seven years later the "desire 
of all nations*^ for a change of government will begin to 
agitate the nations of the world (Hag. 2:1-7). Siity- 
three years later, which will be the 784th year of the Mil- 
lennial era, the foundation of the temple will be laid, and 
the agitations will increase, with the prospect of an inter- 
national war (Hag. 2:10-22). At that time there will 
be three parties, each desiring a different form of govern- 
ment: the Antichrists laboring for a false Messiah; a 
party of Jews favoring the True Messiah, and a party com- 
posed of Jews and Christians advocating a theocracy. 

A second Millennial reformation, which will take place 
one hundred years later than the first (724-794 Millennial 
era), will probably represent theocratic ideas. Seasons of 
fasting will be observed by them during those seventy years, 
but will then be discontinued, and the execution of true 
judgment and compassion will be insisted upon. That will 
be the beginning of a prosperous era for the reformers, who 
will then have 236 years of the Millennial era yet remain- 
ing to school the nations up to theocratic ideas. There 
will then be two branches of reformers, that will bear the 
same relation to each other as did the two reformed Jewish 
branches of the West, one branch adhering to the Mosaic 
institutions, while the others will not ; and the Mosaic Jews 
will refuse to recognize their brethren of the reformation. 

883 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

The great Antichrist uprising that shall take place in 
the East at the close of the Millennial era will expose the 
Jews to a great peril. When the Dragon shall invade 
Palestine^ and shall set up his abomination over a holy 
place^ according to the custom of all Antichrist Messiahs, 
the Jews will find it necessary to make a precipitate flight. 
All who shall leave promptly will succeed in making their 
escape; but such as shall tarry will probably find their 
retreat cut off by the Mohammedans. The Dragon will 
march on to Jerusalem, for the purpose of capturing the 
city and making it his capital; and Zechariah's statement 
that half of the city shall go forth into captivity, while 
the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the 
city, makes it appear that part of the city will yet remain 
able to hold out against the enemy when the earthquake 
shall take place. The cleaving of the ridge east of Jeru- 
salem, known as the Mount of Olives, will divide Anti- 
christ's army at that point, and at the same time make a 
highway for the people to escape. By acting promptly 
they will get out of the reach of danger before a second 
convulsion shall take place and send a fiery shower upon 
the city. Those Wo prophetic signals for flight, the one 
at the beginning of the invasion of Palestine, when Anti- 
christ shall set up his sign, and the other at its close, when 
the Mount of Olives shall be cleft, will undoubtedly be the 
means of saving many of the Jews; but the loss of their 
city and temple by the volcanic fires will be greatly la- 
mented by them (Isa. 64: 10, 11). 

The destruction of Antichrist's army will give the Jews 
a chance to rally; and before another army can be raised 
by them, they will be prepared to make successful resist- 
ance. They will recover their country, and then push their 
victories farther on. A war of extermination will be waged 
against the Dragon, and those late Anarchists will be driven 

28i 



JEWEY IN PROPHECY 

to their strongholds. Unaided by the nations, yet per- 
severingly pushing their victories, the Jews will take their 
enemies^ last defense; and their victory over Antichrist 
will be complete. (See Nahum 3: 12-18.) Isaiah 63: 1 
is a prophetic hint that the Mohammedan power will be 
severely dealt with; and it is to be accounted for in the 
part the Mohammedans shall take against the Jews, at the 
time of Antichrist's invasion of their country. The one 
who comes with ^^dyed garments from Bozrah/' comes as 
a victor; and it will be the closing feature of the world's 
last war. 

The efforts of the Dragon to set up an international 
system of government, and the bloody wars he shall bring 
on in the East, will lead the nations of the world to realize 
the need of a reformation along governmental lines; and 
the reformed Jews of the East will be an important factor 
in that reformation. The world's best statesmen will have 
been schooling the nations up to theocratic ideas; and the 
time will be ripe for the ushering in of the new dis- 
pensation. 

In the international reconstruction of that era, the 
newly reformed Jews will meet with the same difficulties 
from the opposition of the Mosaic Jews that the early 
reformers had to contend with. The Mosaic Jews are the 
class so severely denounced in the sixty-fifth chapter of 
Isaiah. Isaiah 65 : 11 makes it appear that they will leave 
Jerusalem and choose a center of worship for themselves, 
for the purpose of carrying out their ideas. The sentence 
of the orthodox Jews, the reformers, is given in Isaiah 
66:1-13. 

Only one Jewish custom will be carried over from 
the ancient Mosaic system, and that is the feast of taber- 
nacles, which will be of the nature of an international 
yearly convention (Zech. 14: 16). All nations will be re- 

285 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OP PKOPHECY 

quired to send representatives to that convention; and the 
^^families of Egypt/^ (or nominal Antichrists,) or any 
others, who shall fail to be there represented, will be 
visited upon with severe judgments. The great tumult of 
Zechariah 14: 13 is mentioned in connection with the in- 
stitution of that feast; which makes it appear that the 
people will be divided about the matter, and that the meas- 
ure will be strongly opposed ; but it will be carried, and will 
be one of the features of the new institution. 

The new construction will be a consolidation of the 
newly reformed Jews of the East with the united Christian 
and Jewish institution of the AVest; the two institutions 
being incorporated into one body. There will thereafter 
be no distinction between Jews and Christians; and the 
new organization will take a new name (Isa. 65 : 15). The 
bringing in of the new institution will be attended with a 
great deal of commotion, but will be successfully accom- 
plished (Isa. 66: 6-9). All the world will come under the 
dominion of the Theocratic adniinistration ; for "Jehovah 
shall be King over all the earth : in that day shall Jehovah 
be one and His name one^^ (Zech. 14: 9). There will be 
no schisms. 

Tlie measures that shall be providentially employed to 
keep the Satanic powers from rising again in that era 
when the nations shall "not learn war any more,^^ are ex- 
plained by the prophets Isaiah and Zechariah. "By fire 
will Jehovah execute judgment, and by His sword upon all 
flesh: and the slain of Jehovah shall be many^^ (Isa. 66: 
16). A fiery pestilence that shall be sent among the wicked 
is described in Zechariah 14:12. Corrupt organizations 
are forbidden, and will be destroyed (Isa. 66:17; Matt. 
15:13). In that day there will be no recognized holy 
place; but the entire Theocracy shall be holy, and no 
priestly distinction will exist. "Yea, every pot in Judab 

286 



JEWEY IN PEOPHECY 

and Jerusalem shall be holy unto Jehovah of hosts." Ideas 
of holiness, such as were formerly attached to the temple 
and its belongings, will be done away with; and all God^s 
vessels of humanity consecrated to Him will be holy. (See 
Zech. 14:20,21.) 

The final seventy-weeks' era will end two hundred and 
fourteen years after the Millennial era. That will probably 
be the limit of time required for the full establishment of 
the new order of things. Five hundred and fifty years will 
then remain to the end of the age for the full restoration 
of the race under the world's International Theocracy. 
That is the era that has been held in view from the days 
of the Old Testament prophets. Then, and not till then, 
"shall the mountain of the Lord's house be established in 
the tops of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the 
hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many peoples 
shall go and say. Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain 
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He 
will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: 
for out of Zion shall go forth, the law, and the word of 
the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the 
nations, and shall rebuke many peoples ; and they shall beat 
their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning 
hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
neither shall they learn war any more" (Isa. 2 : 2-4; Micah 
4:1-3). 

The above clauses could apply to no time earlier than 
the Sabbatic era; for Jerusalem will not be the Millennial 
center; and the Millennial administration will not extend 
over all the earth; and not until after the final abolish- 
ment of Antichrist will there be an end of all war. After 
the final bringing in of the Jews, and the union of all the 
Church, Jerusalem will be the world's center to the end of 
the age; and the international government will be uni- 

387 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

versal. That desirable consiimmation is the very heart of 
prophecy, so far as it relates to the national affairs of this 
age; for it means a perfect government, and the social re- 
generation of the race. 

We have seen that the bringing in of the Jews is to 
be an important factor in the establishment of the Millen- 
nial Kingdom, which is the desire of all Christians; and 
will also be an important factor in the establishment of 
the Universal Theocracy, which will be the desire of all 
nations. Their bringing in will be accomplished according 
to the purposes of God, and thrn His righteous and provi- 
dential measures. Their national preservation was neces- 
sary, in order to preserve the o.rthodox Mosaic teachings^ 
and the Biblical records and oracles that were committed 
to them; and their preservation is still necessary, in order 
to fulfill the purpose of God in having them represented 
in His terrestrial kingdom. Their early providential cor- 
rections had the effect to produce in them a permament 
religious character; and the Jews are conservative, because 
God has made them so. Their conservatism may degen- 
erate into bigotry; but it is the only thing that can pre- 
serve them as a people in their dispersion. As soon as their 
dispersion shall have the effect to cause tTieir conservatism 
to yield, they will be sent back to their old home again ; and 
again they will be scattered, to teach them that they must 
not grow corrupt in a land that God has given them as a 
covenant possession. 

The Jews must be Christianized before there can be 
one fold and one Shepherd; but the Christianizing of the 
Jews, so far as the essentials of religion are concerned, 
means nothing more than their recognizing Christ, and 
laying aside the Mosaic economy. Some of the Jews have 
been Chrisitianized already; but when they come to act in 
a national capacity, it must be thru the majority; and there 

288 



JEWEY IN PEOPHECY 

never will be a Christian majority among the Jews, until 
the class who are too conservative (or bigoted) to yield 
obedience to God shall be eliminated. 

The Jews will be divided into two independent families ; 
and the Western family will be divided into two branches ; 
and one of those two branches will be admitted into the 
Millennial Kingdom. The same procedure will be repeated 
in the bringing in of the Jews of the East. The Eastern 
family of Jews will be divided into two branches; and 
one of those two branches will be admitted into the Inter- 
national Theocracy. The other branch will then be scat- 
tered; because the mission of the Jewish nation will have 
been accomplished. The conservatism^ for which the Jews 
have always been distinguished^ will thereafter characterize 
the Jewish-Christian institution ; and the Christians^ Christ 
will be the Jews' Christ and the Shepherd of His people 
under their new name; "and Jehovah shall be King over 
all the earth/' 



19 289 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Protestantism in Prophecy 

In its limited sense, Protestantism is the outcome of 
the Eeformation from the corruption of the Papacy. But 
it is the only general term which embraces all the pure 
forms of Christianity in both hemispheres; and in that 
wider sense will the term be used in this article. 

Protestantism consists of a multiplicity of independent 
religious sects; but they are a unit in the faith of the 
gospel, recognizing Jesus of Nazareth as the Savior of the 
world, and worshiping the one true God. They are the 
genuine evangelical succession of true apostolic Christian- 
ity, having their origin in the Protestant Eeformation. 
They have no Messianic aims; and their relation toward 
the government from the first has been that of a religious 
institution wholly separate from and independent of the 
State; and their policy is to sustain such a relation be- 
tween the Church and the State. Protestantism, therefore, 
is said to have her power in the sea, or outside of the domin- 
ion of the government (Zech. 9:4). That is the only 
proper relation of the Church and State, until the Ciiurch 
shall be schooled to Messianic ideas. Jesus the Savior must 
be preached to all the world; and a new body must be 
formed to preach Christ the Messiah. 

The earliest prophetic viewpoint of Protestantism is 
near the close of the fifth seal, in the opening chapters of 
Isaiah. That time is yet in the future, but is compar- 
atively near. An important era of their mission will have 

290 



PROTESTANTISM IN PROPHECY 

been fulfilled in the universal spread of Bible knowledge; 
but worldly corruptions will have been gaining within the 
Church. A general reformation will be needed, not of 
Antichrist corruptions as before, but of the corruptions 
of worldliness. 

The prophecy of Numbers 14: 21, and Habakkuk 2 : 14, 
looks forward prospectively to the time of the world-wide 
spread of the gospel; and Isaiah^s vision of the throne 
and the seraphim sees its accomplishment thru the in- 
strumentality of the Protestant people about the close 
of the fifth seal. At that time ^'^the whole earth is full 
of His glory,^^ and it will be the crowning glory of 
Protestantism. That time is probably two centuries off 
in the future; yet even now, at the noontide of the fifth 
seal, the need of a reformation within the Church is al- 
ready beginning to be realized. Various classes of reform- 
ers are laboring, not only within the Church, but for the 
betterment of society in general ; for the political dominion 
is very corrupt, and that is true of all departments of 
society. A general reformation along all lines is what 
the world needs; and that can not be accomplished thru a 
restrictive institution like Protestantism. For that reason 
it becomes apparent that the spread of the gospel is the 
leading purpose which the Protestant institution has been 
raised up to accomplish. 

The tribulations of the sixth seal wdll have the effect 
of sifting the Protestant institutions of their corrupters; 
and that wdll sift them of their corruptions; and is the 
only thing that can restore them to their virgin purity. 
It will also have the effect of so unifying them, that there 
will afterwards be but two leading Protestant branches. 
America is the Canaan of Protestantism; and God^s pur- 
pose of raising up another institution to take its place in 
the future evangelization of the world bears some analogy 

291 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

to the displacing of the Canaanites by the Jews; and the 
prophetic terms for Protestantism are based upon that 
analogy. Tyre and Zidon in prophecy t}^ify the two 
leading powers of Protestantism. As to location,, Tyre 
points to Europe^, and Zidon to America. Tarshish and 
Kittim also represent Protestant centers in Europe and 
America. Other Philistine and Syrian cities mentioned 
in prophecy appear to refer to the Protestants of the East^, 
or to religious institutions closely related to theirs. Several 
passages of prophecy represent the Protestant people as 
being unfavorable to the Jew^s. 

Joel 3 : 4-6. "And what have ye to do with Me, 
Tyre and Zidon, and all the coasts of Palestine? .... 
The children also of Judah, and the children of Jerusalem 
have ye sold unto the Grecians [Americans], that ye might 
remove them far from their border/^ or cause their depor- 
tation to America. The Protestant people will cause the 
Jews to be removed from their homes in the East to 
America, at a time when the latter shall be greatly in need 
of aid ; but the removal of the Jews from their own border 
is viewed unfavorably in the light of prophecy. "Behold, 
I will raise them out of the place whither ye have sold them, 
and I will return your recompense upon your head.^^ The 
recompense here referred to appears to be something of a 
religious character that the Protestants will hope to ac- 
complish, perhaps in the Christianizing of the Jews; but 
it will not meet with the divine approval. "And I will 
sell your sons and your daughters into the hands of the 
chidren of Judah, and they shall sell them to the Sabeans 
[probably the old Antichrists] to a people far off: for the 
Lord hath spoken it.^^ The retaliation here mentioned 
probably refers prospectively to the action of the Jews in 
the South American war, after their league with the old 
Antichrists, in aiding them against the Protestant people. 

292 



PEOTESTANTISM IN PEOPHECY 

Amos 1 : 3. ^^Damascus . . . threshed Gilead with in- 
stniments of iron/^ or gave the Jews a severe whipping. 
Verse 6, "Gaza . . . carried the whole captivity to 
Edora/' or brought the Jews of the East under the Moham- 
medan power. Verse 9^ "Tyrus . . . delivered up the 
whole captivity to Edom, and remembered not the brotherly 
covenant.^^ The Protestants of Europe will lend a hand in 
reducing the Jews^ regardless of the bond of faith that 
ought to exist between Jews and Christians. The prophetic 
viewpoint of Amos appears to be no later than the third 
and fourth trumpets. As the Protestant people of Europe 
and America had before conspired to deport the Jews to 
America, even so at a later time will the European and 
Eastern Protestants conspire to bring the Jews under Mo- 
hammedan rule; and that circumstance will probably take 
place at some time in the third trumpet. 

Ezekiel 25 : 15. "Thus saith the Lord God, Because the 
Philistines have dealt by revenge and taken vengeance with 
a spiteful heart, to destroy for the old hatred; therefore 
thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I will stretch out Mine 
hand upon the Philistines, and I will cut off the Cherathim, 
and destroy the remnant of the seacoast. And I will execute 
great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and 
they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay My 
vengeance upon them.^^ 

Ezekiel 26 : 2. "Son of man, because that Tyrus hath 
said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken that was the 
gates of the people; she is turned unto me; I shall be 
replenished now she is laid waste : therefore thus saith the 
Lord God, Behold, I am against thee, Tyrus, and will 
cause many nations to come up against thee, as the sea 
causeth his waves to come up.^^ 

Ezekiel 28 : 21-24. "Son of man, set thy face against 
Zidon, and prophesy against it, and say. Behold, I am 

293 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

against thee, Zidon ; and I will be glorified in the midst 
of thee: and they shall know that I am the Lord, when 
I shall have executed judgment in her, and shall be sancti- 
fied in her. For I will send in the midst of her pestilence 
and blood into her streets ; and the wounded shall be judged 
in the midst of her by the sword upon her on every side ; 
and they shall know that I am the Lord. And there shall 
be no more a pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor 
any grieving thorn of all that are round about them; and 
they shall know that I am the Lord God.^^ 

In the above passages the prophetic viewpoint is the 
sixth trumpet^ bordering upon the first seventy-years^ era 
of international wars. The indictment is as follows: The 
Protestants of the East have destroyed for the old hatred, 
and treated the Jews despitefully. The Protestants of 
Europe were glad when the Jews were reduced; and the 
American Protestants were a pricking brier to the Jews 
of the West. A severe retribution is to be visited upon 
Protestantism in general in the seventy years of Tyre's 
desolation (Isa. 23: 15). 

Prophecy shows little circumstantially regarding the 
Protestant people, from the time of their introduction in 
the fifth seal to the time of their decline and disappearance 
in the sixth trumpet. They will suffer in the persecutions 
of the sixth seal ; and the greater portion of the American 
Protestants will probably emigrate to Europe. The ref- 
erence to their temples in Joel 3 : 5 makes it appear that 
they will again enjoy their religious privileges after those 
persecutions shall end. They will probably be among those 
who shall observe the "^^silent half hour'' on the eve of the 
first trumpet; for the inauguration of an Antichrist Mes- 
siah will mean a renewal of hostilities that shall menace 
them again. 

When the first false Messiah shall set up the abomi- 

294 



PEOTESTANTISM I^^ PROPHECY 

nation of desolation, the Protestant people will make armed 
resistance until their enemies, proving too strong, shall 
compel them to succumb. It is also quite probable that 
they will be the principal sufferers in the persecution that 
shall be carried on under the Lion Messiah. The thirty- 
years^ international war of the second trumpet will un- 
doubtedly be fought by the Eoman Catholic powers on the 
one side, and the Protestant powers on the other ; and the 
victory that shall forever settle the question of the political 
supremacy of the Papal power will be a Protestant victory. 

That victory over Antichrist appears to be the end of 
their mission; for little is said prophetically concerning 
them subsequent to that time, save what is said regarding 
their hostility to the Jews, their wealth and their arrogance. 
The passage in Isaiah 14 : 28-32, which hints at dangers 
that shall menace the Protestant people from the two later 
forms of Antichrist, is all that can be clearly gathered to 
show that they will suffer at the hands of those two Anti- 
christ powers, previous to the wars of the fifth and sixth 
trumpets. But the second form of Antichrist, having their 
stronghold in South America, and being of strong political 
tendencies, they will assuredly menace American institu- 
tions; and their determination to conquer everything be- 
fore them, and to gather the wealth of the nations where- 
ever their power shall extend, will certainly bring them 
into collision with the Protestant people, who will them- 
selves aspire to control the mei^antile affairs of the world. 
The era of their greatest financial prosperity appears to be 
in the fifth trumpet, prior to the South American war; 
the European Protestants taking the lead in mercantile 
matters, and in the accumulation of wealth. 

It seems apparent that the second campaign of the 
South American war will be between the Catholics and 
Protestants, and that after the war there will be a persecu- 

295 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

tion (See Dan. 11:28-35) ; and many of the Protestants 
will probably be driven to Europe. Isaiah 22 : 1-7 gives a 
glimpse of Eastern Protestantism in the era of the South 
American war. In a general sense, it is an assault, a re- 
treat, a defeat, and ^"^the spoiling of the daughter of My 
people.^^ The Eastern Protestants will suffer some great 
reverses, and many of them will probably be driven to 
Europe. The above described circumstances, causing the 
Protestant people to gather into Europe where they had 
their origin, accounts for the great strength of European 
Protestantism, the Tyre of prophecy at the beginning of 
the sixth trumpet. The fall of Protestantism in Europe 
would therefore mean the fall of Protestantism in general. 

An international mercantile system of monopoly will 
be established by the Protestants of Europe, probably as 
early as the beginning of the fifth trumpet ; and it appears 
to be a purely non-political arrangement that will be, car- 
ried on by that religious power for the purpose of amassing 
wealth. In the eleventh year of the sixth trumpet the 
European Protestants, rich and arrogant, will prepare to 
establish a non-political theocracy, of which there is an in- 
timation in Isaiah 23 : 18, as compared with Ezekiel 28 : 
1-6. The Anarchists of Europe will then wage a war 
against the Protestant powers, while the Anarchists of 
America shall be fighting against Protestants, Jews, and 
Catholics across the sea. 

The Jews will be speedily scattered from their settle- 
ment ; but it will take forty years to conquer the Catholics, 
and the Anarchists will need to concentrate their forces in 
America up to that time, so that their opposition against 
the European Protestants will be but palliative, to frustrate 
their purpose of establishing a theocracy, until they shall 
come off victorious in America (Isa. 23:4-6). The An- 
archists^ victories will put an end to the mercantile relations 

296 



PEOTESTANTISM IN PROPHECY 

of the American and European Protestants, and will also 
have the effect to cut off the Protestants^ hope of assistance 
against their powerful enemies (Jer. 47:4; Isa. 23:4). 
The Anarchists will then concentrate their forces against 
the Protestant powers of Europe, and a vigorous thirty- 
years^ war will be carried on. The fall of Tyre, the leading 
power of Protestantism, is described in the twenty-third 
chapter of Jeremiah, and twenty-sixth to twenty-eighth 
chapters of Ezekiel. Their great monetary system will 
be wholly destroyed, and their glory will have departed. 

Jeremiah 47:2-4. ^Thus saith Jehovah: Behold, 
waters rise up out of the North [North America], and shall 
become an overflowing stream, and shall overflow the land 
and all that is therein, the city and them that dwell 
therein.^^ A non-political power (the waters) shall overrun 
the Protestant dominions of Europe. ^^And the men shall 
cry, and all the inhabitants of the land shall wail, at the 
noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the 
rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels. The 
fathers look not back to their children for feebleness of 
hands; because of the day that cometh to despoil all the 
Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Zidon every helper 
that remaineth; for Jehovah will despoil the Philistines, 
the remnant of the isle of Caphtor.^^ The nations of 
Europe Avill be powerless before the invaders, which ex- 
plains the reason why the Protestants will get no help. 

Ezekiel 26 : 3-14. ''Behold, I am against thee, Tyre, 
and will cause many nations to come against thee, as the 
sea causeth his waves to come up.^^ The power of Anarchy 
will be international and non-political. "And they shall 
destroy the walls of Tyre, and break down the towers : and 
I will also scrape her dust from her, and make her like the 
top of a rock; and it shall become a spoil to the nations. 
And her daughters which are in the field [the scattered 

297 



THE HISTOEIC MEAXIXG OF PEOPHECY 

religious societies] shall be slain with the sword. For thus 
saith the Lord Jehovah, I will bring upon Tyre Nebuchad- 
nezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings from the North 
[North America], with horses and with chariots, and with 
horsemen, and a company, and much people. . . . With the 
hoofs of his horses shall he tread down all thy streets : and 
he shall slay thy people with the sword, and the pillars of 
thy strength shall go down to the ground. And they shall 
make a spoil of thy riches, and make a prey of thy mer- 
chandise.^^ Their wealth will be scattered among the na- 
tions of Europe (Ezek. 26: 5; 29: 18-20). 

Isaiah 23 : 8-14. ^^Who hath purposed this counsel 
against Tyre, that bestoweth crowns, whose merchants are 
princes, whose traffickers are the honorable of the earth? 
. . . Pass thru thy land as the Nile, daughter of Tar- 
shish; there is no restraint any more. He hath stretched 
out His hand over the sea. He hath shaken the kingdoms 
[thru the power of anarchy] : Jehovah hath given com- 
mandment concerning the merchant people [the Protes- 
tants] to destroy the strongholds thereof. . . . Howl, ye 
ships of Tarshish, for your stronghold is laid waste.^^ 

Zechariah 9:3, 4. ^^And Tyre did build herself a 
stronghold, and heaped silver as the dust, and fine gold as 
the mire of the streets. Behold, the Lord will dispossess 
her, and He will smite her power in the sea ; and she shall 
be devoured with fire.^^ Protestantism, the greatest non- 
political Christian power the world shall ever see, shall be 
broken and destroyed. 

In that protracted warfare of the Anarchists against the 
Protestants, including in all a period of seventy years, 
"every head was made bald,^^ so long did it continue, "and 
every shoulder w^as worn,^^ so hard did they serve. "Yet 
had he no wages, nor his army, from Tyre.^^ The An- 
archists will bear their own expenses and be content with 

298 



PEOTESTAXTISM IX PEOPHECY 

their victory. The kings of the earth, and their people 
with them, will be enriched by the wealth of the Protes- 
tants; it will not go to their conquerors, the Anarchists 
(Ezek. 27: 33). "Behold, ... I have given him the land 
of Egypt,^^ the dominion of the old xlntichrists, "as his 
recompense for which he served, because he wrought for Me, 
saith the Lord Jehovah,^^ in breaking a corrupt and incor- 
rigible Christian power (Ezek. 29: 19, 20). 

The first effect of the fall of the Protestant power will 
be a great financial panic. "At the sound of the cry of thy 
pilots the suburbs shall shake. And all that handle the oar 
. . . shall stand upon the land, . . . and they shall make 
themselves bald for thee, and gird them with sackcloth, 
and they shall weep for thee with bitter mourning.^^ Many 
fortunes will be wrecked. "When thy wares went out of the 
seas, thou filledst many peoples ; thou didst enrich the kings 
of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy 
merchandise.^^ When that system of monopoly shall be 
broken up, the accumulated wealth of the Protestant powers 
will be confiscated and put into circulation for the public 
benefit. 

"In the time that thou wast broken by the seas in the 
depths of the waters, thy merchandise and all thy company 
did fall in the midst of thee.'^ Their commercial trans- 
actions will be brought to an end; and that will end the 
business transactions of all who carried them on. "All the 
inhabitants of the isle are astonished at thee, and their 
kings are horribly afraid, they are troubled in their coun- 
tenance. The merchants among the people hiss at thee,^^ 
so unpopular will be their monopolous system. "Thou art 
become a terror, and thou shalt never be any more.^^ The 
Protestant power shall never rise nor again restore their 
commercial system. 

The power of Protestantism will be shattered in that 

299 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PKOPHECY 

war, but Protestantism will not yet be destroyed ; and while 
the Anarchists shall be shepherding the scattered people of 
the broken Catholic societies, and while the Messianic 
Christians shall be laboring for a reformation among both 
J.ews and Protestants, the latter will be endeavoring to 
regain their lost financial advantages. ^^And it shall come 
to pass at the end of seventy years that Jehovah shall visit 
Tyre/^ in that reformation; ^^and she shall return to her 
hire/^ They will return to their former lines of business, 
and to their former corruptions ; ^^and shall play the harlot 
with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the 
earth,^^ by endeavoring thru corrupt methods to again set 
up a corrupt international mercantile system. 

Those movements on the part of the Protestants will 
take place within the month of reformation, or thirty 
years succeeding the war. The Protestants^ oppressiveness 
will be brought to an end by the war; and that will pre- 
pare them for the reformation which will occupy the first 
twenty-three years of the month. "And I will cut off the 
pride of the Philistines; and I will take away his blood 
out of his mouth, and abominations from between his 
teeth ; and he also shall be a remnant for our God : and he 
shall be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite'^ 
(Zech. 9:6, 7). The reformation will reach a few of the 
Protestants, who will go to the reformed Christian and 
Jewish institutions. 

During the last seven years of the month, the seven 
years after the reformation, the Protestants will again 
labor to establish a monopolous mercantile system ; but the 
reformers will regard such a movement with abhorrence, 
and will oppose it, even to the extent of excommunicating 
all who shall favor it. "And I cut off the three shepherds 
in one month [the Protestants and unreformed Jews] ; for 
My soul was weary of them, and their soul also loathed 

300 



PEOTESTANTISM IJf PROPHECY 

Me/^ The reformers will defeat the Protestants in their 
efforts to restore monopoly; and in the succeeding seven 
years they will introduce a better international mercantile 
system, and one of benevolent tendencies. "And her mer- 
chandise and her hire shall be holiness nnto Jehovah: it 
shall not be treasured nor laid up/^ to build up fortunes 
and impoverish the masses; "for her merchandise shall be 
for them that dwell before Jehovah^ to eat sufficiently and 
for durable clothing/^ The commercial returns that once 
filled Protestant treasuries shall flow out for the benefit 
of the masses. 

That international commercial victory of the reformers 
will take place seven years before the great seventy years^ 
international war, that shall begin in the 125th year of the 
sixth trumpet. In Zechariah 11 : 12 there is a prophetic 
hint of a treacherous plot upon the part of the monopolists 
against the reformers, the meaning of which has been 
foreshadowed in the treachery of Judas Iscariot. The mo- 
nopolists, after their excommunication and defeat, will un- 
dertake a secret conspiracy to assassinate the reformers. 
It has not been clearly revealed to what extent they shall 
succeed; but Isaiah 26:20, 21 contains a hint that ap- 
parently refers to that time of peril, and it may be that the 
conspiracy will be discovered, and that the reformers or 
many of them will be able to evade their enemies until 
the danger shall be ended by the opening of the great in- 
ternational war. That act of perfidy on the part of the 
Protestant people wdll be as a deathknell to their institu- 
tions; and they will disappear along with the unreformed 
Jews in the great international war-clouds of the sixth 
trumpet. 

Jeremiah 25 : 34-38. "Wail, ye shepherds, and cry; and 
wallow yourselves in ashes, ye principal of the flock : for the 
days of your slaughter and of your dispersion are fully 

301 



l^HE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

come ; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel ; and the shep- 
herds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the 
flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and 
the wailing of the principal of the flock ! for Jehovah 
layeth waste their pasture; and the peaceable folds are 
brought to silence because of the fierce anger of Jehovah. 
He hath forsaken his covert as a lion : for their land is be- 
come an astonishment because of the oppressions, and be- 
cause of his fierce anger.^^ 

Amos 9 : 1-4, 7, 8. ^^I saw the Lord standing beside the 
altar: and He said. Smite the capitals that the thresholds 
may shake : and break them in pieces on the head of all of 
them ; and I will slay the last of them with the sword : there 
shall not one of them flee away, and there shall not one of 
them escape. Tho they dig into Sheol, thence shall My 
hand take them; and tho they climb up to heaven, thence 
will I bring them down. And tho they hide themselves in 
the top of Carmel, I will search and take them thence; 
and tho they be hid from My sight in the bottom of the sea, 
thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them. 
And tho they go into captivity before their enemies, thence 
will I command the sword, and it shall slay them. And I 
will set Mine eyes upon them for evil and not for good. 
. . . Have not I brought up Israel out of the land of 
Egypt, and the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Syrians 
from Kir? Behold, the eyes of the Lord Jehovah are 
upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off 
the face of the earth ; saving that I will not utterly destroy 
the house of Jacob, saith Jehovah.^^ 

One hundred and fifty-nine years after those terrible 
international wars, and seven years before the close of the 
sixth trumpet. Protestantism will entirely disappear. "And 
I will encamp about My house that none pass thru or re- 
turn: and no oppressor shall pass thru them any more: for 

302 



PROTESTANTISM IN" PEOPHECY 

now have I seen with Mine eyes^^ (Zech. 9:8). The re- 
formers will thenceforth earefnlly guard against all oppres- 
sive measures; and will not suffer any who favor such 
things to enter their institutions. 

The Prophetic View of Protestantism 

We have already taken some notice of the character of 
Protestantism as it is prophetically viewed; but could 
not well diverge from its prophetic history to study it more 
fully. 

The twenty-eighth chapter of Ezekiel gives the fullest 
prophetic description of the character of Protestantism that 
the Bible contains. Protestantism entered into the original 
Mosaic plan^ as it appears from verse 14, "Thou art the 
anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so.^^ 
Here we have the typical meaning of the cherubim that 
covered the mercy seat of the ark with their wings, and 
were anointed along Avith the rest of the temple belongings. 
The two cherubim with wings touching, symbolize the two 
great continents of the world, the eastern and the western 
hemispheres, which are separated by vast oceans, but 
brought into contact thru their traveling and commercial 
facilities. In a religious sense, the two cherubim symbolize 
the institution that shall be instrumental in evangelizing 
the world in its two great continents, a thought which is 
more clealy expressed in Isaiah^s vision of the throne and 
the seraphim. 

"Thou wast upon the holy mountain of G-od,^^ where the 
law was given to Moses, here used figuratively for a stable 
institution of divine appointment, having its foundation 
principles in the Mosaic institution. Protestantism was 
in the plan of those heavenly things, whose pattern was 
given to Moses upon Mount Sinai. "Thou hast walked 
up and down in the midst of the stones of fire/^ Protes- 

303 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

tantism from its beginning has literally walked thru fire. 
To be a professed follower of Christ under the Papal power 
often meant burning at the stake ; and there will be another 
fiery ordeal when that power shall rise again. 

"Thou sealest up the sum^ full of wisdom^ and perfect 
in beauty.^^ The wisdom of God^ exceeding dl other wis- 
dom^ and the beauty of holiness^ have been the glory of 
Protestantism. "Thou hast been in Eden^ the garden of 
God/^ not the Eden of men^ but a higher, a heavenly origin. 
"Every precious stone was thy covering.^^ The precious 
stones are emblems of divine truth. There are ten enu- 
merated, and they suggest and probably stand for the ten 
words of the law, upon which God^s moral laws are founded. 
"The workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was 
prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.^^ 
Protestantism was to be a joyous institution full of music, 
and was so framed from the beginning. 

"Thou wast perfect in thy way from the day that thou 
wast created till iniquity was found in thee ;^^ in the time 
of the present Gospel era of Avhich the Prophet Isaiah 
speaks, when Protestantism should be corrupted by world- 
liness. Their worldly tendencies will be severely visited 
upon them in the great tribulation; but after those deso- 
lations shall be restrained, and properous times restored, 
they will again turn to amassing wealth. 

"And what are ye to Me, Tyre and Zidon, and 
all the regions of Philistia? will ye render Me a recom- 
pence? and if ye recompence Me, swiftly and speedily will 
I return your recompence upon your own head. Forasmuch 
as ye have taken My silver and My gold, and have carried 
into your temples My goodly precious things^^ (Joel 3: 
4, 5). The idea of a recompence to God, spoken in Joel's 
prophecy, probably refers to an expression of gratitude for 
deliverance out of the great tribulation, and the gold and 

304 



PEOTESTANTISM IN PEOPHECY 

silver and goodly precious things that they shall carry into 
their temples will be the offerings of the people. But 
the hording of wealth is an evil, even when a religious 
institution is the recipient; and the recompence will be 
swiftly and speedily returned in evil that shall again be 
sent upon them in the wars they will have to fight^ with 
the Antichrist Messiahs of the first and second trumpets, 
and in the persecutions they will suffer. 

At a later time, and after passing thru the vicissitudes 
of several centuries, that once noble religious power will de- 
generate into an oppressive monetary institution, and will 
so continue until the time of its fall. "Behold, thou art 
wiser than Daniel; there is no secret that they can hide 
from thee.^^ That wisdom is of the worldly type, as the 
context shows. ^^With thy wisdom and with thine un- 
derstanding thou hast gotten thee riches, and hast gotten 
gold and silver into thy treasures: by thy great riches, 
and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and 
thy heart is lifted up because of thy riches.^^ Here we have 
a description by Ezekiel of the end of the defections of 
Protestantism, as Isaiah describes its beginning. Of the 
beginning Isaiah writes, '^How is the faithful city become 
a harlot !^^ Of the end he writes, "Take a harp, go about 
the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten.^^ 

The cherub is even now fast changing its character 
thru worldly corruptions and love of wealth; and eight 
hundred years after the close of this present era of the 
fifth seal, and after the many corrections that the Prot- 
estant people shall receive at the hand of God, in the per- 
secutions and tribulations He shall send upon them, they 
will go to gathering wealth by monopoly; and the last 
stage of degeneracy will be worse than the first. "By 
the multitude of thy merchandise thou hast filled the 
midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned; there- 
20 305 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

fore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of 
God/^ The Protestant power, because of its defections, 
will not be permitted to continue among the institutions 
of divine appointment. ^^And I will destroy thee, 
covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire/' 
Protestantism will be destroyed; and will no longer be 
honored in the dissemination of divine truth. 

Viewing Protestantism as it is, it must be admitted 
that even now that religious power has already developed 
the characteristics by which it is prophetically described. 
The Protestant people are fully persuaded that if they 
could get the control of the financial resources of the 
world, they would soon bring in the Millennial era; and 
the sentiment generally prevails among them that they 
ought to amass wealth largely, in order to make a suc- 
cess of their evangelistic efforts. They will be permitted 
to do so in the sealing period; and will be allowed a full 
century for the experiment of filling the coffers of their 
churches. But while they shall be so occupied, God's 
elect people, no longer identified with them, will be evan- 
gelizing the world anew, and creating a new body of the 
primitive Christian character. Five and a half centuries 
later, after the Anarchists shall slacken the laws, the 
Protestant people will establish an international system of 
monopoly that will enable them to amass wealth rapidly; 
and then it will be not temples, but treasuries, that they 
will fill. 

The outcome of that experiment is described in the 
eleventh chapter of Zechariah. The masses will be im- 
poverished, both the Protestants and Jews, while their 
possessors, who shall hold the reins of finance, shall "slay 
them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that 
sell them say. Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich: and 
their own shepherds pity them not.'^ The laity will be a 

306 



PROTESTANTISM IN PEOPHECY 

"flock of slaughter/^ while their mercenary shepherds, 
the rich capitalists, shall be feasting upon the wealth that 
impoverished them. In the end of that era of wealth and 
oppression, lasting about a century and a half, the Prot- 
estant powers will attempt to set up a non-political and 
international theocracy, in order to carry out their ideas 
of the kingdom of heaven. 

That movement will take place three hundred and 
eighty years before the Millennial era. The violent op- 
position of the Anarchists will put an end to their am- 
bitious purposes; and in the wars that shall follow, their 
ill-gotten gains will fall into the hands of the nations. 
From that time forth the "^Vhole of Palestina,^^ or Prot- 
estantism in general, shall continue to melt away. The 
24th chapter of Isaiah is a requiem upon the downfall of 
Protestantism; and the 25th chapter is a song of praise for 
the better things that shall follow after their overthrow. 
Seven years before the world^s true Messiah shall be pro- 
claimed, and thirty years before the Millennial era shall 
begin, that once rich and powerful religious power will 
entirely disappear; and Protestantism will end, as the 
kingdom of heaven shall begin. 

Protestantism has made a glorious record in the past; 
and the full evangelization of the world thru Protestant 
institutions is near at hand; and in view of all the good 
the Protestant people have accomplished, and of the near 
relation of Protestantism, both to apostolic Christianity 
and to the future Christian power that shall be instru- 
mental in building up the kingdom of heaven, it is sad to 
think of the melancholy end that is in store for that once 
noble and famous religious power. 



307 



CHAPTEE XIX 

Mohammedism in Prophecy 

In a general sense the Mohammedan nations represent 
those that are related to the nations of Israel^ but in a 
wider sense thej^ include all who accept the Mohammedan 
faith. Both Jews and Mohammedans worship the one true 
God; but the Jews reject God's true prophet, who was sent 
to them in the person of Jefeus Christ; and the Moham- 
medans recognize the false prophet Mohammed, who 
founded their institution. The Jews have the Old Tes- 
tament Scriptures, and the Mohammedans have the Koran, 
which contains many quotations and alterations from the 
Jews' Bible. The Jews expect the Messiah, but lack the 
true Messianic conception; while the Mohammedans are 
wholly lacking in Messianic aspirations. Edom, Moab and 
Ammon are prophetic types of the leading Mohammedan 
powers of the future. Tho many of the Mohammedan 
nations are related to the Jews, they are prophetically 
described as being very hostile toward them; and their 
future hostility has already been foreshadowed in the past 
disposition of those Eastern nations of whom they are the 
antitype. 

The Mohammedan powers are not prophetically intro- 
duced until the time of their future ascendancy over the 
Jews, which will be in the latter part of the third trumpet. 
Amos 1 : 6, 9 makes it appear that the Protestant powers 
will be instrumental in bringing the Jews under Moham- 

308 



MOHAMMEDISM IN PROPHECY 

raedan rule, and verses 11-13 explain how the Moham- 
medans will abuse their power. ^^Edom . . . did pursue 
his brother with the sword^ and cast off all pity^ and his 
anger did tear perpetually^ and he kept his wrath forever. 
But I will send a fire upon Teman, which shall devour the 
palaces of Bozrah. . . . The children of Ammon . . . have 
ripped up the women with child of Gilead that they might 
enlarge their border: but I will kindle a fire in Kabbah^ 
and it shall devour the palaces thereof with shouting in 
the day of battle, mth tempest in the day of whirlwind: 
and their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes 
together/^ in the great international tempests of war and 
whirlwinds of revolution of the sixth trumpet. 

Isaiah 11 : 14, "^^And they shall fly down upon the 
shoulder of the Philistines on the West ; together shall they 
spoil the children of the East : and they shall put forth 
their hand upon Edom and Moab; and the children of 
Ammon shall obey them.'^ About the close of the fourth 
trumpet, or beginning of the fifth trumpet, at the time 
when part of the Jews shall emigrate to South America, 
they will unite against the Mohammedan powers, and will 
conquer them. 

Daniel 11 : 41 suggests that the Mohammedan powers 
in general will escape the thirty years^ war of the fifth 
trumpet. Isaiah 21 : 11-17 presents a feature of Moham- 
medism in connection with that era. ^^One calleth me out 
of Seir, Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what 
of the night T'^ AVhen those storms of war shall be raging 
and nearing their close, some of the Mohammedans will 
satirically inquire. What is the prospect for the Millennial 
era ? ^The watchman said. The morning cometh, and also 
the night : if ye will inquire, inquire ye : come ye again.^^ 
The Millennial era is coming: but a dark night is yet 
ahead, and it will fall upon Mohammedism; and they will 

309 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

again have occasion to inquire^ Watchman, what of the 
night? This is explained in the clause that follows. A 
thirsty Arabian caravan, flying fugitives, drawn swords, 
bent bows, and the grievousness of war, is the scene pre- 
sented. "Within a year according to the years of a hire- 
ling [or within the limit of the sixth trmnpet] all the 
glory of Kedar shall fail/^ 

Amos 2 : 1, "Moab . . . burned the bones of the king 
of Edom into lime.*^ This prophecy appears to have some 
reference to the circumstance mentioned in 2 Kings 3 : 
27, where the Edomites brought the Moabites into such 
a strait that the king of Moab offered up his own son 
and heir as a burnt offering. Here Moab is said to have 
burned the bones of the king of Edom into lime: and it 
suggests a relentless retaliation on the part of one Mo- 
hammedan power against another, in return for some 
offense. "But I will send a fire upon Moab, and it shall 
devour the palaces of Kirioth, and Moab shall die with 
tumult, and with shouting, and with the sound of the 
trumpet: and I will cut off the judge from the midst 
thereof, and will slay all the princes thereof with him, 
saith Jehovah.^^ A justly deserved retribution will be 
visited upon a vengeful retaliation. 

Ezekiel 25 : 1-7. "Son of man, set thy face toward 
the chidren of Ammon, . . . and say, . . . Thus saith 
the Lord Jehovah, Because thou saidst. Aha, against My 
sanctuary, when it was profaned; and against the land of 
Israel, when it was made desolate; and against the house 
of Judah, when they went into captivity : therefore behold, 
I will deliver thee to the children of the East for a pos- 
session. . . .^^ The calamities of the Jews here mentioned 
will occur in the closing part of the fifth trumpet and 
early part of the sixth trumpet, and the Mohammedans 
will exult over their disasters. 

310 



MOHAMMEDISM IX PEOPHECY 

Verses 8-11, ^^Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Because 
that Moab and Seir do say, Behold the house of Judah 
is like unto ail the nations; therefore behold, I will open 
the side of Moab from the cities, from his cities which 
are on his frontiers . . . unto the children of the East, 
against the children of Amnion . . . for a possession, . . . 
and I will execute judgments upon Moab/' Some of the 
Mohammedan nations will lose their independence, and 
will come under the power of the nations of the East. 

Verses 12-14:, ^'^Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because 
that Edom hath dealt against the house of Judah by 
taking vengeance, and hath greatly offended and revenged 
himself upon them ... I will also stretch out My hand 
upon Edom, . . . and I will lay My vengeance upon 
Edom by the hand of My people Israel according to Mine 
anger.'^ x^t some time subsequent to the offenses above de- 
scribed, two of the leading Mohammedan powers will lose 
their dominions: and the leading power will be chastised 
by the Jews according to the measure of the offense. 

Jeremiah 25:21, 23. Edom, Moab and Ammon, 
Dedan, Tema and Buz, and Arabia, are enumerated among 
the nations that are to drink of the winecup of fury that 
shall be fulfilled in the great international wars of the 
sixth trumpet. The fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of 
Isaiah are strikingly similar to the fort3^-eighth and forty- 
ninth chapters of Jeremiah, and evidently refer to the 
same circumstances, which are to be fulfilled in the era 
of the world's great tribulation of the sixth trumpet. 

Ar and Kir, mentioned by Isaiah, appear to stand for 
two Mohammedan strongholds that shall be laid waste, 
causing great mourning. Moab is to be as a wandering 
bird cast out of the nest. ^^Moab shall wail for Moab.'' 
Desolations, weeping, and mourning among all the domin- 
ions of Moab is predicted in the prophecies of both Isaiah 

311 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

and Jeremiah. In Isaiah 15: 5 and Jeremiah 48: S4 the 
term ^^eglath shelesheyeh/^ meaning a heifer of three years 
old, appears to refer to the number of trumpet periods 
to be fulfilled from the time of the offense to the end of 
retribution; and in Isaiah 16: 14 the phrase "within three 
years as the years of a hireling/^ appears to have the same 
meaning. The figure employed is that of an obligation, 
which is to be fulfilled within three years. The desola- 
tions above mentioned will be fulfilled within the era of 
the great seventy years^ desolation of the sixth trumpet; 
but "the three years^^ will be fulfilled "since that time^^ 
(Isa. 16:13), or subsequent to that era of desolations; 
and include the seventh trumpet, Millennial era, and post- 
Millennial era; when the full and final measure of retribu- 
tion shall be dealt out to the Mohammedan powers. 

Isaiah 16 : 4. "Let Mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; 
be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoiler; 
for the extortioner is at an end, the spoiler ceaseth, the 
oppressors are consumed out of the land.^^ This clause 
refers to the overthrow of monopoly, and to the persecu- 
tions that shall be waged against the reformers just before 
the great international wars shall begin. Those persecuted 
outcasts will find an asylum in one of the Mohammedan 
countries during the wars. After all the desolations that 
shall be visited upon Moab, "Yet will I bring again the 
captivity of Moab in the latter days, saith the Lord.^^ 

Jeremiah 49 : 1. "Concerning the Ammonites, thus 
saith the Lord, Hath Israel no sons? hath he no heir? 
Why then doth their king inherit Gad, and his people dwell 
in his cities ?^^ The Mohammedans will usurp the Jews' 
territory, when their land shall be confiscated. "There- 
fore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will 
cause an alarm of war to be heard in Eabbah of the Am- 
monites; and it shall be a desolate heap. . . . And after- 

313 



MOHAMMEDISM IN PEOPHECY 

ward I will bring again the captivity of the children of 
Ammon, saith the Lord/^ The Mohammedan powers will 
be broken in that era of desolation; but Mohammedism 
will not yet be destroyed. "But I have made Esau bare, 
I have uncovered his secret places, ... his seed is spoiled, 
and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not. Leave 
thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive ; and let 
thy widows trust in Me. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, 
they whose judgment was not to drink of the cup have 
assuredly drunken; and art thou he that shall altogether 
go unpunished ?^^ All the nations, and all, both good and 
bad, will be affected by the great affliction that shall fall 
upon the world. 

Ezekiel 35 : 1-15, "Behold, I am against thee, Mount 
Seir, . . . and I will make thee most desolate. . . . Be- 
cause thou hast had a perpetual hatred, and hast shed the 
blood of the children of Israel by the force of the sword in 
the time of their calamitj^, in the time their iniquity had 
an end,^^ which will be in the era of reformation. "Because 
thou hast said. Those two nations and those two countries 
are mine, and we will possess it, whereas the Lord was 
there. ... As thou didst rejoice at the inheritance of 
the house of Israel because it was desolate, so will I do 
unto thee: thou shalt be desolate, Mount Seir, and all 
Edom, even all of it: and they shall know that I am the 
Lord.^' 

Ezekiel 36 : 2-5, "Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Be- 
cause the enemy hath said against you, Aha, and the 
ancient high places are ours in possession^ . . . because, 
even because they have swallowed you up on every side 
• . . therefore thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Surely in the 
fire of My jealousy have I spoken against the residue of the 
nations, and against all Edom, that have appointed My 
land unto themselves for a possession with the joy of all 

313 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

their heart, with despite of soul, to cast it out for a 
prey/' (See Joel 3 : 19 ; Zeph. 2 : 8-10.) 

The two above quotations refer to the time of the Jews^ 
calamity that will occur twenty-one years after the reform- 
ation, and on the eve of the era of international wars and 
tribulations; and wlien the Jews shall be wholly deprived 
of their dominions both in the East and in America, their 
land partitioned among the nations, who will eagerly vie 
with each other for their possessions; and the leading Mo- 
hammedan power will endeavor to get the full control of 
the Jews' dominions. That international conspiracy to 
deprive the Jews of their inheritance, after the reforma- 
tion that is to prepare them for its permanent possession, 
is one of the causes prophetically assigned for sending upon 
the world the great tribulation of the sixth trumpet; and 
it will fall with great severity upon the Mohammedan 
powers. 

The prophecy of Obadiah is a discourse upon the future 
downfall and destruction of the leading Mohammedan 
power. ^^An ambassador is sent among the nations; arise 
ye, and let us rise up against her to battle. Behold, I have 
made thee small among the nations; thou art greatly de- 
spised. The pride of thy heart hath deceived thee, thou 
that dwellest in the clefts of the rocks . . . that saith 
in thine heart. Who shall bring me down to the ground ?'' 
The once proud and haugthy Mohammedan power will be 
held in contempt. "All the men of thy confederacy have 
brought thee even to the border: the men that were at 
peace with thee have deceived thee, and prevailed against 
thee: they that eat of thy bread have laid a snare for 
thee.^^ There will be a great deal of treachery among their 
former friends, and even among their own people. (Com- 
pare the above quotation with Jer. 49: 13-22.) 

Isaiah 34 : 2-6, "For Jehovah hath indignation against 

314 



MOHAMMEDISM IN PROPHECY 

all the nations, and wrath against all their host. . . . 
Their slain shall be east out [without burial], . . . 
for my sword hath drunk its fill in heaven : behold, it shall 
come down upon Edom, and upon the people of My curse 
to judgment. . . . For Jehovah hath a sacrifice in Boz- 
rah, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom/^ in the 
international wars of the seventh trumpet. 

The offenses enumerated against the Mohammedan 
powers are : The violence against their brother Jacob ; their 
taking part as one among the strangers who cast lots upon 
Jerusalem; looking on the day of his brother in the day 
when he became a stranger; rejoicing over the children 
of Judah in the day of their destruction, and speaking 
proudly in the day of distress; entering into their gate in 
the day of their calamity; looking on their affliction (ma- 
liciously) and laying hands on their substance; standing 
in the crossway to cut off those that were escaping, and 
delivering up those that remained in the day of distress. 
^^Por the day of Jehovah is near upon all nations : as thou 
hast done, it shall be done unto thee ; thy dealing shall 
return upon thine own head.^^ The great international 
wars of the sixth and seventh trumpets will be visited 
upon those predicted outrages against the Jews; and the 
Mohammedan powers will be broken. The Jews will after- 
ward possess their dominions, and the dominions of the 
Eastern Protestants (Obad. 17-20) ; ^^and saviors shall 
come upon Mount Zion and judge the mount of Esau, 
and the kingdom shall be Jehovah^ s,^^ in the post-Millen- 
nial era, after the rights of the Jews shall be restored. 

In the sixty-third chapter of Isaiah, Edom and Bozrah 
appear to stand for Mohammedism in general, after the 
Millennial era. Edom stands prophetically for the leading 
Mohammedan power, into which all the shattered remains 
of Mohammedism shall finally merge; and Bozrah repre- 

315 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

sents the leading Mohammedan center and stronghold. 
Isaiah 63 : 1 gives only a hint of a bloody conflict between 
the Jews and Mohammedans in the post-Millennial wars; 
but the reason for that conflict can be readily accounted 
for in the part the Mohammedans will naturally take with 
the Antichrists against the Jews. All the prophets unite 
in predicting the utter destruction of all the Mohammedan 
powers; and in that war their final destruction will be 
accomplished^ and that will be the end of Mohammedism. 
Our study of Mohammedism gives a portrayal of that 
religious power as it is^ and as it will be in the future. 
The Mohammedans are prophetically described as being 
cruel, revengeful, and unforgiving. One particular feature 
of their character is yet to be revealed, and that is their 
hostility toward the Jews. That belongs to the future 
revelation of Mohammedism, after the Jews^ return to the 
East shall bring them in contact with the Mohammedan 
people. The destruction both of their polity and of their 
false religion is the only thing that will ever end their 
hostility toward others in general, and toward the Jews 
in particular. 



316 



CHAPTEE XX 

A Chapter of Prophecy 

A Summary of Prophetic Events. 

After studying the different classes of society that 
prophecy has to deal with^ and a separate prophetic out- 
line of each of the leading religious powers^ we shall next 
present a general and consecutive account of the leading 
prophetic ctrcumstances^ from the future rise of the Papal 
power to the Millennial era. 

Before the great tribulation shall begin^ the world will 
be fully evangelized^ and all nations will have the witness 
of the gospel. The accomplishment of that desirable end, 
for which the Protestant people have been so long aspiring, 
will be hailed with joy, and celebrated simultaneously in 
both hemispheres; and the anthem of praise that shall be 
sung on that happy occasion has already been prepared. 
^"^Holy, hol}^, holy, is Jehovah of hosts : the whole earth is 
full of His glory,^^ is the song the Protestant people will 
sing. It will be a resting time for the Church, and the 
servants of God will look around to see what are the needs 
of their people at home. 

They will see in America, the great vineyard of the 
Church, society in general bent upon the pursuits of wealth 
and pleasure. Capitalists will be monopolizing; and the 
iniquity that grows out of vanity will abound among peo- 

3ir 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

pie professedly religions, but with judgment too greatly 
perverted to distinguish between good and evil, and yet 
"wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight." 
Saloons with their attendant wickedness will be flourishing 
among men "mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to 
mingle strong drink ;^^ and they will "reject the law of Je- 
hovah of hosts, and despise the Holy One of Israel/^ 

The need of a general reformation will be realized; but 
no one will feel prepared to undertake it. "Woe is me ; for 
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a 
people of unclean lips.'^ The reformation must begin with 
the reformers, the people who "have seen the King, Jehovah 
of hosts,^^ and understand the need of a moral and spir- 
itual cleansing. They will begin at the altar of prayer; 
and will then go to reach the masses who are blind in the 
rush for wealth and pleasure, and whose ears are heavy 
thru the satisfying of worldly desires, the people who can 
not understand. 

In the meantime a peril will begin to threaten the 
country. Eoman Catholics in such great numbers will 
emigrate to America, that in some sections of the country 
the Eoman Catholic element will predominate. In one of 
the sections of the divided government of what is now the 
United States of America they will at length become a 
political party, and will place one of their own number 
and choice at the head of the government. After their 
preparations for action shall be fully matured, they will 
seize the Protestant Churches, and will then proceed to 
make an assault upon the Protestant people. Whatever 
may be the method of procedure, the assailants will be 
utterly lawless; and the barbarous persecutions of the 
Papal power of the dark age will be renewed against all 
who shall not get out of their way, or go over to the Papal 
institution. 

318 



A CHAPTER OF PROPHECY 

The first outbreak of the persecution will probably be 
limited to that section of the government that shall be 
under the control of Roman Catholic dominion. After 
the persecution shall rage for about thirteen years, it will 
at length expend its fury, even as fire goes out for want of 
fuel. There will be an interval of rest lasting about thir- 
teen years, when the American people will be terrified by 
a second outbreak, probably thru the same class coming 
into power in another section of the country, the Anti- 
christs thus preparing to take the whole country. A 
second thirteen years' persecution will rage, until it shall 
cease thru sheer lack of material to work upon; and there 
will then be a second season of rest. 

At the end of that interval of peace there will be a 
third outbreak, the Antichrists extending their depreda- 
tions thruout the entire country from sea to sea. The 
Protestant people will fly for safety, and will stand in awe 
of their lives. Whole cities will be deserted; and many 
neighborhoods will be left tenantless. A third thirteen 
years^ persecution will rage^ while the nations will look on 
amazed. The persecuted people will at length call for 
fasting and prayer. The Church in general will probably 
respond ; and there will be an international season of fast- 
ing and prayer for deliverance from Antichrist atrocities; 
and that God will save his people from destruction, and 
his heritage from reproach. 

There is no reason to doubt that an international con- 
vention of the Protestant nations will then assemble, to 
take measures for putting an end to those persecutions; 
and the outcome of the convention will be an international 
edict from ^^the four corners of the earth,'^ or four great 
continents of the world there represented ; and it will have 
the desired effect. The persecutions will be restrained; 
and the army of Antichrists, apparently kept for the sole 

319 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

purpose of massacring and plundering the peaceable citi- 
zens of the country, will be so greatly abhorred by the 
public in general, that its removal will be effected. 

That international measure will not do away with the 
cause of the trouble; yet it will be effective enough to have 
some permanency in it; and peace will be assured for a 
full century. The Protestant institutions will flourish 
again; and the grateful people will retrieve the circum- 
stances of their poverty-stricken Churches; and their 
Church coffers will be well filled again. The Reformers 
also will renew their evangelistic efforts ; and so active will 
they be, that before that era of peace shall end every 
nation in the world will be evangelized by them. 

A new danger will at length begin to threaten the 
Christian world, in the manifest purpose of the Roman 
Catholics to set up a Messiah of their own at the head of 
the American government. The Christian people will 
observe a season of prayer, probably internationally ar- 
ranged, like the one in the closing era of the former tribu- 
lation. The need of a reformation along governmental 
lines will begin to appear; and, as before the Reformers 
will begin at the altar, and will then go with "^^fire of the 
altar^^ to reform the government of its political corrup- 
tions. That movemicnt will be the beginning of a political 
reformation, that will continue with varying phases for 
eleven centuries, or until the Millennial era. 

As soon as the Antichrist Messiah shall be proclaimed, 
the Protectant people will take up arms to defend them- 
selves against the enemy, who will send an army upon them 
as before. Many hard battles will be fought; but the 
Protestants will at last be defeated. The Antichrist 
Messiah will take his seat, and will be recognized by the 
American nations in general in both the American conti- 
nents. Early in his administration after the war, the 

330 



A CHAPTEE OF PEOPHECY 

much dreaded persecution will begin; and will rage in 
both Americas thruout the extent of the false Messiah's 
dominions. It will therefore be more general and wide- 
spread than any of the preceding persecutions; and will 
really be the sequel of the other three scourges after a 
protracted intermission. After the Antichrists shall suc- 
ceed in crushing the Protestant people^ many of whom will 
probably be driven to Europe, they will begin to menace 
the Eeformers. In the face of a danger that shall threaten 
their entire destruction, deliverance will come, and the 
Antichrist Messiah will be "broken without hand/' which 
is to say, he will be deposed. 

Only four and a half years later, a second Antichrist 
Messiah will be inaugurated in one of the American domin- 
ions; and a Protestant fleet will be sent across the sea 
from Europe to put him down. The Antichrists will like- 
wise send a fleet to his aid ; but they will not be able to con- 
quer the American people by taking the countries one at 
a time, after the manner of his predecessor. The question 
of his authority will be settled by the great international 
naval conflict that will be carried on for thirty years. 
The Protestant powers will then come off victorious; and 
that victory will give them better advantages than they 
could obtain in any of their earlier efforts; for they will 
be able to strike at the root of the trouble, by putting an 
end to the political claims of the Papal powers, to which 
condition the latter will be compelled to acquiesce. 

That international war is to be a visitation upon the 
Papal powers, the judging and avenging of the blood of 
the martyrs who suffered for five long centuries, and of 
such as shall yet suffer for another century of Antichrist 
wars and persecutions. It is therefore to be expected that 
the Antichrists will suffer some terrible defeats and heavy 
losses in life and property. The entire Papacy will be as 
21 321 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

a "^'burning nioimtain'^ threatened with destruction; and 
they will be coriipelled to change their base from that of a 
political to one of a non-political institution, by the 
passage of an international act that shall forever debar 
them from exercising political authority in their ecclesias- 
tical capacity; and their king will thereafter exercise his 
Messianic authority in a purely ecclesiastical capacity, 
w^ithin the limits of his own institution. The Protestants 
and Reformers will then enter upon a new era; and pros- 
perous times will be speedily restored. 

In that era of peace the Reformers will begin to labor 
along temperance lines ; but their radical views will be 
greatly opposed. A persecution will be raised against 
them within the dominions of the second false Messiah; 
and some of them will be cast into prison. That persecu- 
tion is probably to be accounted for in the Messianic tend- 
encies of the future reformed Christian institution, whose 
people will aim to bring the power of the gospel within the 
dominion of the government. A temperance reformation 
will therefore mean a collision with the saloon powers, 
both among Christians and Antichrists. The persecution 
Avill be followed by a great apostasy, which will carry away 
the opposition party. That apostasy will be led by a great 
apostate of strong political aspirations, who will give char- 
acter to his institution; and the devil will have a new 
institution thru which to work among the political powers, 
after the overthrow of the old one. 

The second form of Antichrist will grow and spread 
very rapidly, until it shall reach every nation under the 
sun. In a very short time they will obtain such great 
proportions as to be able to exercise the capacity of an in- 
ternational military power, controlling armies, and gather- 
ing the wealth of the nations. They will be very oppres- 
sive; and will continue their oppressions until the great 

323 ' 



A CHAPTER OF PEOPHECY 

scourge shall be sent upon them that shall break their 
power, three hundred and ninety years after their rise. 

The old Antichrist institution will be rent into a four- 
fold schism soon after the apostasy shall begin; but the 
four branches will unite. Many new sects will afterward 
rise within their institution; and before the end of ±he 
third trumpet they will be threatened by a tenfold schism^ 
which they will endeavor to avert by placing a Messiah at 
their head. An anarchistic sect that shall begin to rise 
about that time will be opposed to having a Messiah; and 
the cruelty and oppression of the one in power will furnish 
them a plausible pretext for having him killed. 

Contemporaneous with the rise of the Anarchists will be 
a new body of Christian Eeformers, that will be a departure 
from the corrupted institution of the former Christian 
reformation. They will therefore bear the same relation 
to the Protestants that the Anarchists will to the old Anti- 
christs. One will be the ecclesiasticl grandchild of Prot- 
estantism, and the other will be the ecclesiastical grand- 
child of Catholicism. Both will be professedly reforma- 
tory, but of entirely different views, one being Christian 
and the other Antichrist; and the two institutions will 
enter upon the arena of religious agitation at the same 
time. They will rise five and a half centuries before the 
Millennial era; and will take the lead in changing the 
social and religious aspects of the world. One will labor 
to break up the governments, and to destroy all other reli- 
gious institutions; and the other will labor to school the 
world up to Millennial ideas. 

The Anarchists first important movement will be the 
deporting of part of the Jewish nation as a colony to a 
country that will be partitioned to them in the northern 
part of South America, and near their own center and 
stronghold. They will give the Jews a form of government 

333 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

agreeable to their own ideas, which is to say, a modified 
form of anarchy, and will have settlements of their own in 
all the surrounding countries, and communities in all other 
countries, to increase their numbers and leaven society with 
their ideas. The Messianic Eeformers will also extend their 
evangelistic efforts to every nation under the sun. One 
hundred and twenty years after the Anarchists shall begin 
to rise in power they will become important enough to be- 
gin to menace the governments of the world ; and in every 
place where they shall flourish, they will constantly labor to 
break up the government. 

The old Antichrists will desire to put another Messiah 
at their head, but will not be able to do so against the 
opposition of the Anarchists; for they will also be opposed 
by the Protestants, who will at that time be rich and power- 
ful, and by the Messianic Eeformers, who will be too impor- 
tant to be despised. The Dragon Antichrists, the apostates, 
will recognize their Messianic candidate; but there will be 
no hope of gaining the Jews as long as they are under the 
dominion of the Anarchists. Their only hope of success 
will be thru conquering the Anarchists; for a religious 
Messiah must receive the necessary recognition of the reli- 
gious world. They will therefore send a large army to 
break up the anarchistic stronghold, but will be repulsed; 
and after warring no doubt for several years, the An- 
archists will succeed in arranging an armistice with their 
assailants by paying them largely, their purpose probably 
being to gain some advantages that it will require time to 
mature ; and the invaders will return home. 

As soon as the old Antichrists shall be diverted from 
the Anarchists, they will begin to make hostile demonstra- 
tions against the Protestants and Eeformers ; and when at 
the expiration of the armistice they shall return against 
the South, they will be met by a Protestant fleet, and will 

324 



A CHAPTER OP PKOPHECY 

turn back; for they will probably remember their great 
naval overthrow of several centuries before. They w^ill 
next send ambassadors to the Jews and make a treaty with 
them; and will afterward raise immense armies from 
North America^ from Ireland, from continental Europe, 
and even from the far East. Those great forces wdll 
approach the Anarchists' center from different points and 
the entire country will be overrun. The Protestant people 
of South America will be severely dealt with during that 
invasion. The Reformers also will suffer in those perse- 
cutions; but their aversion to war will probably render 
them less obnoxious to the fury of the Antichrists than 
would the warlike demonstrations of the Protestants. 

The great center of Anarchy will at last be broken up, 
the old Antichrists will crown their Messiah, and for a few^ 
years there will be rest after the wars of the South; when 
another war cloud will begin to darken the world's hori- 
zon. The Anarchists, after ascertaining their available 
forces to be two hundred millions strong, will decide to 
break the powder of the Antichrist Messiah. They will 
first break up the Jewish colony, and will then take up 
arms against the false Messiah, and soon afterward they 
will declare war against the Protestants. After forty years 
of fighting the Antichrist Messiah will lose his American 
dominions, and thirty years later the Protestant powers 
will fall. 

During the succeeding twenty-three years after those 
wars, the Anarchists will labor to proselyte the scattered 
Catholics of America; and the Reformers will carry on a 
reformation among the Jews and Protestants. The latter 
will labor to regain their lost commercial advantages, thru 
the re-establishment of their corrupt commercial system, or 
another equally as bad, and that will bring the Reformers 
against them, so that the reformation among the Protestant 

325 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

people will be brought to an end; but it will find perma- 
nency among the Jews. 

The twenty-one years succeeding the Eeformation era 
will be an era of agitation against monopoly and oppres- 
sion, a movement in which the Reformers will take the 
lead. It will really be a sequel to the reformation; and 
the Reformers will come off victorious. The disappointed 
capitalists will then conspire against the Reformers, who 
will be compelled to get out of the way of the conspirators. 
The Anarchists will confiscate the Jews' dominions near 
the close of that era, leaving them without a home, and 
without protection. 

After the Reformers shall be driven out of the way, and 
the Jews scattered from their settlement, the Anarchists 
will attempt an international movement of some descrip- 
tion, based upon their own ideas. It will prove to be "an 
evil that shall go from nation to nation ; and a great tem- 
pest shall be raised to the uttermost parts of the earth.'' 
The Anarchists will meet with armed resistance wher- 
ever they shall attempt to introduce their system; yet 
they will persevere in their efforts to carry out their pur- 
pose, agreeably to their aim from the beginning of their 
rise to take the world. Their victories over the Catholics 
and Protestants, after seventy years of war, will embolden 
them to persevere for an international victory, and there 
will be seventy years of international wars. 

The world will be turned into a great battlefield in the 
opposition against the world's enemy. Six-sevenths of the 
population of adult males will be sacrificed in that ob- 
stinate and protracted struggle, in which both sides will 
determine to conquer or die. The bodies of the dead will 
lie scattered upon the face of the earth without burial, the 
earth soaked with their blood, and the air corrupted with 
their stench. In the outcome of the matter, the Anarch- 

326 



A CHArTEE OF PEOPHECY 

ists will not gain the world, nor will the nations destroy 
Anarchy; but the nations will be broken up, and the 
governments shattered, and again reconstructed agreeably 
to modified Anarchistic ideas. 

In one respect that era of carnage will be beneficial. 
The classes who shall enter the fighting ranks will be such 
as shall be hostile toward the reformation; while the Ee- 
formers, who just before the beginning of the conflict 
shall be obliged to fly for their lives, will keep out of 
the sweep of the tempest of war. Hid away in retire- 
ment and seclusion, they will keep up their evangel- 
istic labors, and by the end of that era of war there will 
be a reformed body of Jews. In that way the Eeformers 
will be providentially preserved, while their enemies shall 
be destroyed. That will give them a comparative numeri- 
cal advantage; and the two witnessing institutions of Jews 
and Christians will begin to have power in the world. 

That remarkable era of war will end one hundred and 
ninety-six years before the Millennial era. Within that 
time the world will have to be prepared for the change 
from a loose Anarchistic international government, to the 
iron rule of a Messianic international Christian govern- 
ment. The Anarchists and Eeformers will represent the 
two different systems of international government; and 
thru the teachings of their statesmen society will merge 
into two general parties, one party favoring an interna- 
tional system of Anarchy, and the other favoring an inter- 
national Christian government. The Antichrists in gen- 
eral will favor Anarchy, and the Protestants and old type of 
Jews will gradually disappear. IsTear the close of the sixth 
trumpet the two great parties will be massed for the de- 
cisive conflict, and the associated party of Anarchy will 
decide to put a Messiah at their head for the purpose of 
setting up and sustaining an international system of An- 

337 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

archy that shall recognize the old system of Antichrist as 
the State religion. 

About thirty-eight years before the Millennial era the 
plans of the Anarchists will be fully matured, and the two 
opposing parties will probably be about equally matched 
in numbers and influence. The Anarchists will determine 
to get the Eeformers out of the way, and will prepare 
to carry out such a treacherous proceeding as the monopo- 
lists were foiled in more than two centuries before, by 
secretly planning their destruction. The Eeformers will 
be silenced for awhile; but the Anarchists will not be as 
successful as they had hoped, for they will be ready to hold 
an international convention by the time the Anarchists 
shall be ready to crown their Messiah, or even earlier, and 
will declare in favor of the authority of Christ and a 
Christian government. 

The Anarchists will likewise hold an international con- 
vention for the purpose of sustaining the authority of their 
Messiah, who will be the recognized leader of the move- 
ment. Greatly to their chagrin, however, the old Anti- 
christs will put forward a claimant for the Messianic 
throne, not in the sense of a rival candidate, but as their 
latest Messiah, whose Messianic authority all the Anti- 
christs and their international government had recognized 
and sustained. He will pose as the veritable Messiah, who 
was crowned by the old Antichrists three hundred and 
sixtv-five years before, and in some sense returning to re- 
sume his Messianic authority. 

The appearance of that unexpected claimant will put 
an end to the convention. The old Antichrists will make 
a secret and sudden assault upon the Anarchists, a mas- 
sacre like the one they had perpetrated upon the Jews and 
Christians a few years before. War will follow, but the 
Anarchists will succeed in making a compromise with the 

328 



ILLUSTRATED PLAN OF 
THE WORLD'S PROGRESSIVE CYCLES 




FIRST mRTIAL LONG CYCLE 
BEGAN B.C.4004 



RRST FULL LONG CYCLE 
BEGAN B.C.2468 



A CHAPTER OP PROPHECY 

old Antichrists, and the two allied powers will resume their 
former relations under the rival Messiah as their king, and 
with the defeated Anarchist as his colleague. The con- 
vention will re-assemble, and preparation will be made for 
putting down the Messianic Christian government. 

In the conflict that shall follow the Reformers will 
come off victorious. The two Antichrist colleagues will 
be taken and executed by casting them alive into a lake of 
fire and brimstone, the authority of Christ will be sus- 
tained, and an international Christian government will be 
established. The Anarchists and old Antichrists will soon 
disappear, and the apostate Antichrists will retire to the 
far East. 

Our chapter here ends in the beginning of the Millen- 
nial era, and furnishes a summary of the leading prophetic 
circumstances up to that time. 



329 



CHAPTER XXI. 

The World's Progressive Cycles 

The four great cycles cover the entire age of man^ from 
the creation of Adam to the end of the race ; and represent 
four progressive dispensations^ viz: the Jewish^ the Chris- 
tian, the Messianic, and the Theocratic. 

The Jewish dispensation is the dispensation of law, and 
took the race out of anarchy. It is adapted to the lowest 
stage of society, that of unreclaimed and untrained fallen 
beings. 

The Christian dispensation is the dispensation of grace, 
and its purpose is to reclaim our fallen race. The moral 
law is not annulled; but the gospel fulfills the purpose of 
the law for such as come under its dominion. The Church 
and State are therefore separate institutions. 

The Messianic dispensation is the dispensation of the 
Kingdom of Christ. Its purpose will be to subdue the law- 
less and bring them under the dominion of God. 

The Theocratic dispensation is the dispensation of 
God the Father, and will be adapted to the training of 
subdued and reclaimed fallen beings. Under that dispen- 
sation there will be a free government, with ample gospel 
provisions. 

The four smaller cycles, the "wheels within^' the limits 
of the four large cycles, are eras of Satanic dispensations 

330 



THE WOELD'S PEOGEESSIVE CYCLES 

which occur as follows : the Anarchistic, the Despotic, the 
Antichrist, and the Diabolic. 

The deviFs Anarchistic dispensation was fulfilled be- 
fore the flood of Noah, and his next descent would have 
been to the Diabolic; but it was arrested by the dispensa- 
tion of law. He then had recourse to despotism in order to 
drive men back to anarchy, by making them hate law ; but 
it was arrested by the dispensation of the gospel. He then 
had recourse to Antichrist, which is of anarchistic tend- 
encies. 

As soon as the Christian dispensation shall end, Satan 
will bring anarchy upon the world at the beginning of the 
Messianic dispensation, as a preparation for his Diabolic 
dispensation, which will therefore take a Messianic form. 
The world will be rescued from Satan by the coming into 
power of the True Messiah. The devil will then have no 
other recourse, and his kingdom will come to an end. 

The period of our Lord^s incarnation, a century for a 
year, appears to be the type of a cycle that extends from 
the twelfth year of His incarnation to the odd or Messianic 
year. His incarnation was fulfilled in thirty-three and a 
half years ; and there will be exactly thirty-three and a half 
centuries from the twelfth year of his incarnation until the 
Messianic year. That cycle appears to stand alone in the 
plan of the age; and its meaning appears to be that the 
Church must fulfill one century for each year of our Lord's 
life on earth, in preparing the world for His Messianic 
kingdom. 

This age of the world appears to be a Messianic week 
upon a grand scale. Our Lord's crucifixion took place in 
the midst of the world's week, which was A. M. 4,033^. 
That number, multiplied by two, is equal to 8,067, which 
lacks 1,133 years of the ninety-two centuries which are in- 
cluded in the four great cycles of the age of man. The 

331 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

world^s week must therefore date 1,133 years back of the 
creation of Adam, and is therefore equal to 9,200 plus 
1,133, or 10,333 years. One-seventh of that number, or 
1,476 1-7 years, is the length of the world's day. The 
world's week is therefore equal to seven times 1,467 years 
plus one. This calculation makes it appear that the odd 
or Messianic year enters into the full plan of the age. 

The Millennial epoch of Haggai 1:1 (671 Millennial 
era), dates 1133 before the end of the age. Those two ex- 
tremes of 1,133 years at the beginning and end of the age 
may be of the nature of opposites. The first is pre-his- 
toric, and the second is yet to come. 

An important epoch marks the beginning of each day 
of the world's week. The world's first day began 5137 
B. C. The earliest revealed epoch is the fall of Satan and 
his angels ; and the epoch of that era may be some circum- 
stance of that fall. That day ended in the 343d year 
of Adam. 

The world's second day began 3361 B. C. The fall of 
the angels mentioned in Genesis 6 : 2 probably took place 
at that time, since their illicit marriages were introduced 
when men began to multiply upon the ground; and that 
must have been about the time when the world's second day 
began. 

The world's third day began 2185 B. C. That was 183 
years after the flood, and Noah was 783 years old. Noah's 
fall by drink was the epoch of that era, and therefore must 
have occurred 167 years before his death. 

The world's fourth day began 709 B. C, which was the 
fifteenth year of king Hezekiah's reign. It was the year 
of the visit of the Babylonian ambassadors, when Heze- 
kiah's heart began to be lifted up in pride. 

By adding the odd year in the world's fourth day, the 
date of the fifth day would be A. D. 768. The reign of 

332 



THE WOELD'S PEOGEESSIVE CYCLES 

Charlemagne began that year; and under his rule Chris- 
tianity began to be propagated by force. It was an era 
of tyranny. 

The world^s sixth day will begin A. D. 2244, which will 
be in the 112th year of the sixth seal. The world^s seventh 
day will begin A. D. 3720, which will be in the 328th 
year of the Millennial era. The five epochs already ful- 
filled appear to be so many features of the fall, and the 
history of the future must reveal what the world's two 
future epochs shall be. 

Two 550 year cycles are included within each of the 
world's four great cycles, and there are also two secondary 
550 year cycles. They are arranged in doubles, with the 
exception of the two that are included within the two great 
partial cycles. 

The first 550 year cycle occurs in the closing part of the 
first partial 23 century cycle, dating from the year inclu- 
sive of Enoch's translation, B. C. 3018-2468. Erom the 
490th year of the first full 23 century cycle is the second 
550 year cycle, B. C. 1978-1428; and immediately succeed- 
ing it, from the death of Joshua to the death of Athaliah, 
is the third 550 year cycle, B. C. 1428-878. From the 
beginning of influence of Pope Gregory VII to Arminius 
was the fourth 550 year cycle, A. D. 1032-1582; and from 
Arminius to the future rise of the Papal power is the fifth 
550 year cycle, A. D. 1582-2132. The first four trumpets 
are included within the sixth 550 year cycle, A. D. 2301- 
2851. It extends from the rise of the first false Messiah to 
the Great Controversy. The seventh 550 year cycle in- 
cludes the last three trumpets and first nine years of the 
Millennial era, A. D. 2851-3401. It extends from the 
beginning of the Great Controversy to the end of the great 
Slander Suit. The eighth, ninth, and tenth are a triplet, 
and extend A. D. 3546-4096; 4096-4646; 4646-5196, or 

333 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

from the 154th year of the Millennial era to the end of the 
age. The tenth 550 year cycle occurs in the closing part of 
the second partial 23 century cycle. We shall now give our 
attention to the apparent meaning of the double 550 year 
cycles. 

Of the double 550 year cycle extending from the time 
(at least approximately) of the offering of Isaac to the 
death of Athaliah, the first was noted for the progress of 
idolatry; and all later idolatrous systems are probably 
modified or derived from those of that era. The second 
cycle was noted for the dissemination of the true know- 
ledge of God; and all later institutions of divine approval 
are founded upon the principles of the divinely appointed 
institutions of that era. 

Of the double 550 year cycle extending from the rise 
of Atminius to the future rise of the Papal power, the first 
was noted for the progress of Polish enormities, and the 
second, the present cycle, is distinguished for the progress 
of Christian ideas and civilization. 

The first of the 550 year double of the seven trumpets 
will be noted for the progress of Christian liberty, and 
the second will be distinguished for the development of 
anarchistic ideas. 

The first of the double 550 year secondary cycle, ex- 
tending from the 154th year of the Millennial era until 
254 years after the Millennial era, represents Anarchy in 
its wane; and the second cycle represents the progress of 
theocratic ideas. 

The two 550 year cycles that occur within the two par- 
tial great cycles, in the beginning and end of the age, are 
of the character of opposites, like the double cycles. The 
first began after Enoch's translation, and was an era of 
anarchy in its simplest form; and the second will be the 

334 



THE WOELD^S PEOGRESSIVE CYCLES 

era of the world's greatest perfection, -ander the highest 
form of goverment the world shall ever see. 

In a word, those 550 year cycles are eras of changes 
that take place in public sentiment, molding the minds 
of men and becoming embodied in human organizations. 
Anarchy pure and simple was developed in the first 550 
year C3^cle. That is the lowest plane upon which it is 
possible for human society to exist. Its opposite in the 
final 550 year cycle will be an era of society on the highest 
plane that can be attained in this age of the world. The 
intermediate 550 year cycles are eras of social development, 
in which the false ideas of men are first tested, and then set 
aside to give place to the true. 

The 490 year cycle is also a progressive series, and is 
closely related to the 550 year cycle. The two classes of 
cycles occur by turns, and with the exception of five inter- 
vals of various lengths, they occupy the entire age of man. 
There are ten in all of the 490 year cycles, two of which 
are secondary cycles, in this respect also resembling the 
550 year cycles. They are not arranged in pairs like the 
other class of cycles, nor do they alternate regularly as 
opposites ; yet there are corresponding numbers of true and 
false cycles, there being five cycles of false Messianic eras, 
and five of the true. There are but two doubles, one in the 
beginning and one in the end of the age. Their dates are 
as follows: 

The first and second are a double 490 year cycle, B. C. 
3997-3507-3018. The third, B. C. 2468-1978; the fourth, 
B. C. 457-A. D. 33; the fifth, A. D. 542-1032; the sixth, 
A. D. 2281-2771; the seventh, A. D. 2872-3362; the eighth 
and ninth (a double), A. D. 3422-3912-4402; the tenth 
(overlaps the ninth), A. D. 4156-4646. The intervals 
that sometimes occur among the cycles are experimental or 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

testing eras. We shall now take a consecutive view of the 
progress of the world thru those two classes of cycles and 
the intervening intervals. 

The seven years introduction at the beginning of the 
age was the testing era of our first parents on trial. The 
testing point was the choice to be made between law and 
anarchy. They chose anarchy by assuming that they were 
competent to distinguish between good and evil, thus 
making each man a law unto himself. Adam was the 
world's patriarch, because he was the head of the race. 
It was a Messianic relation, even under a state of anarchy. 
By the end of that 490 year cycle the need of a reformation 
became apparent, and the prophet Enoch was the world^s 
first reformer. He was born 125 years after the beginning 
of the second 490 year cycle. That cycle began in the days 
of Jared the father of Enoch. At that time the heads of six 
generations were living, and their ages were as follows: 
Adam, 497; Seth, 367; Enos, 262; Cainan, 172; Maha- 
lalel, 102; Jared, 37. All those partriarchs except Adam 
lived until the end of that cycle and later. Enoch was the 
seventh from Adam, and lived to see two later generations 
rise, so that he preached to eight generations and the 
patriarch Adam, who died fifty-seven years before Enoch's 
translation. 

The tide of anarchy probably set in immediately after 
Enoch's departure. After testifying against the sin of 
lawlessness and denouncing God's terrible vengeance 
against the lawless and the ungodly, he was not; for 
God took him. Noah was born sixty-nine years after 
Enoch^s translation, and witnessed that era of anarchy 
thruout the most of its extent. Lamech, the father of 
Noah, appears to have had some of the spirit of his illus- 
trious grandfather, that made him an exception to the 
prevailing errors of that time ; for he prophesied that Noah 

336 



THE WOELD'S PEOGEESSIVE CYCLES 

his son should be instrumental in bringing about a better 
state of affairs in the world. 

Several of the patriarchs died within that cycle. Seth 
died in the 55th year of the cycle; Enos in the 153d year; 
Cainan in the 348th year; Mahalalel in the 303d year, 
and Jared in the 442d year. Lamech died five years be- 
fore the floods and Methuselah lived until the year of the 
flood. It can be seen that the old stock of the world^s in- 
habitants were passing away, and later generations were 
coming on. 

Noah was 480 years old at the close of that 550 year 
cycle ; and began to preach at the beginning of the succeed- 
ing 490 year cycle, which began 120 years before the flood. 
The antediluvians were spared for one hundred and twenty 
years, while Noah was laboring to save them from the ruin 
of anarchy. His ideas of sacrifice were approved of God; 
but the Messianic ideas of his descendants did not meet 
with the divine approval. They wanted to establish a 
world center at Babel; and a corrupt Messianic center 
would have been the outcome of the carrying out of their 
ideas. 

The building of Babel appears to have been attempted 
about a century after the flood, or just before the days of 
Peleg, for the partitioning of the land took place in his 
days; and was the first step toward the formation of inde- 
pendent nations. Noah died forty years before the end of 
that cycle. 

As the nations increased, the Messianic idea was gradu- 
ally abandoned in favor of independent governments; and 
that was the feature that characterized the succeeding 550 
year cycle. Petty kingdoms were formed and afterward 
grew to greater proportions; but the governments were 
very loose. Three hundred years after that cycle began, 
Abraham was called to found a new nation. 

22 337 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

In the succeeding 550 year cycle the nation of Israel 
organized the world^s first free government, and it was the 
model government of that era. The people were governed 
by judges, and the change to a kingdom was a very un- 
desirable innovation. The 421 years' interval that suc- 
ceeded that cycle was an experimental era of effort to 
adapt theocratic ideas to the monarchy of Israel. But it 
proved to be a failure, and the nation was sent into cap- 
tivity. 

After that interval the Jews were restored to their land 
as a subject nation. The world's leading kingdoms were 
growing very strong and oppressive, and the Jews began to 
realize the need of a Messianic government with a divinely 
appointed head, as their only hope of sustaining their na- 
tional independence. The teachings of Israel's prophets 
were instrumental in producing that change of sentiment, 
for altho the prophets were rejected in their own days, 
their teachings took root in the minds of men. The Jews 
were longing for a Messiah to save their nation, and the 
nations were longing for a Savior to save them from their 
tribulations. 

In the fullness of time, as the closing event of that 
cycle, the expected Savior came, and remained on earth 
long enough to reveal His mission and die for the world. 
That Messianic cycle stands alone, being preceded by the 
421 years' interval before mentioned, and followed by an 
interval of 509 years. Within the era of the latter interval 
the non-political and universal gospel institution of Christ 
was put upon trial, and succeeded; and the Lord's Christ 
was proclaimed as the world's Savior and future Messiah. 
A false Messianic cycle then set in, when the Bishop of 
Eome became the world's Pope. 

That cycle was followed by the second double 550 year 
cycle. In the first of those two cycles the Papal power of 

338 



THE WORLD^S PROGRESSIVE CYCLES 

Rome developed its political aspirations. Pope Gregory VII 
aimed to establish a universal Papal theocracy, and during 
those five and a half centuries his sentiments were voiced 
by the adherents of the Romish Papacy. At the end of 
that era a reaction of public sentiment set in, led by Ar- 
minius, who was the world^s leading champion for religious 
toleration and liberty of conscience. 

The principles of liberty have been progressing ever 
since the rise of Arminius. After the settlement of Amer- 
ica, the progressive ideas of free government gave char- 
acter to the institutions of the "West. Even the monarchies 
of Europe have been modified by the prevailing ideas of 
liberty, and their influence is spreading over all the world. 
It is an era of better things, like the era of the free gov- 
ernment of Israel. 

This cycle will be followed by an interval of 169 years. 
The experiment of adapting Popish ideas to a free govern- 
ment will be tested during that interval, and will prove to 
be such a ruinous failure that it will be cut short by an 
international interference. 

After that interval there will ^e a protracted era of 
simultaneous primary and secondary cycles, extending from 
the beginning of the seven trumpets until 254 years after 
the Millennial era. 

In our Illustrated Plan the 490 year cycles are rep- 
resented by circles, and the 550 year cycles by parallelo- 
grams. The dark cycles represent eras of predominating 
error, and the light cycles represent eras of prevailing 
truth. The beginning of each cycle is dated. The dis- 
pensational cycles are also shown, and also the world^s 
seven days with their respective dates. 

ISTow let the dark cycles represent the world^s night of 
error, and let the light cycles represent the world^s day of 
truth, and the simultaneous cycles of dark and light, the 

339 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OP PEOPHECY 

world^s twilight eras, and leave the intervals nnclassed, as 
they are of a mixed character. The successive eras of truth 
and error would be as follows : 

A seven years' interval in Eden of our first parents 
on trial; a 490 j^ears' night of absolute patriarchal govern- 
ment; a 490 years' day of reformed patriarchal govern- 
ment; a 1,589 years' night, consisting of an era of absolute 
anarchy, succeeded by an iera of absolute despotism fol- 
lowed by an era of modified anarchy; a 550 years' day of 
the free government of Israel; a 421 years' interval of 
experiment in adapting ideas of free government to a mon- 
archy; a 490 years' day of the world looking for a divine 
Savior; a 509 years' interval of the Savior's gospel on 
trial; a 1,040 years' night, consisting of axL era of absolute 
empire, followed by an era of modified anarchy; a 550 
years' day of the progress of free American institutions; 
a 169 years' interval of experiment in adapting Popish 
ideas to a free government; a 20 years' day of liberty 
fought and lost; a 490 years' twilight of liberty and Anti- 
christ Messianic ideas; a 40 years' day of the world look- 
ing for the Messiah's return; a 21 years^ night of anarchy; 
a 490 years' twilight of modified anarchy and Messianic 
Christian ideas; a 39 5^ears' night of anarchy fought and 
lost; a 21 years' interval of Messianic Christian govern- 
ment on trial; a 124 years' day of Messianic Christian 
government without opposition; a 550 years' twilight of 
Messianic Christian government and of the progi^ess of 
anarchistic institutions ; a 60 years' day of Messianic Chris- 
tian government without competition, and of the progress 
of theocratic ideas; a 490 years' twilight, consisting of 246 
years of Messianic Antichrist institutions in competition 
with Messianic Christian institutions, and of the early 
progress of a theocratic era, followed by 244 years of Mes- 
sianic Antichrist authority and of the increasing progress 

340 



THE WOELD^S PROGEESSIVE CYCLES 

of theocratic ideas; a 550 years^ day of Theocratic govern- 
ment. 

Light and darkness appear to be equally balanced in 
the full plan of the age, but darkness predominates in the 
first third of the age of man ; in the second third the light 
and darkness are about equal, while in the final third of 
the age light predominates. The first ten cycles of the two 
classes occupy about two-thirds of the age of man, and in- 
clude six dark cycles and four light; while the last days, 
including about one-third of the age, has four dark cycles 
and six light. A glance at the diagram will also show that 
despotic government never progresses for more than one 
cycle without being succeeded by a cycle of anarchy, which 
is absolute at first, but of modified forms afterwards. 
Degenerated and perverted governments that make their 
subjects the slaves of the sovereign are little better than 
organized forms of anarchy, for the trend of despotism is 
toward anarchy. 

In the first two-thirds of the age the cycles of despotism 
and cycles of anarchy succeed alternately, and so do the 
Messianic cycles and cycles of free government, the dark 
preceding the light in the doubles. In the twilight era of 
the latter days the order of the cycles will be changed in 
the first four trumpets, the light preceding the dark; for 
after the present cycle of liberty shall end, and the ex- 
periment of adapting the despotic ideas of Popery to a free 
American government shall be tested and fail, the after- 
effort to build up a Papal despotism in the world will be 
met with determined and overpowering opposition. The 
cycle of liberty will hold the sway, but it will have a Papal 
hierarchy to contend with for 490 years of its extent. A 
primary cycle of anarchy will succeed the secondary cycle 
of despotism, and will be opposed for 490 years of its 
extent by a secondary Messianic cycle. That era of anarchy 

341 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

will end the ninth year of the Millennial era, and the 
twenty-one years^ experimental era that shall follow will be 
the world^s first effort to establish an international Chris- 
tian kingdom. That Messianic victory will be so strong 
that the cycle will be doubled/ and for one hundred and 
twenty-four years the tide of anarchy will be checked, and 
will then set in as a secondary cycle. A primary cycle 
of despotism will succeed that cycle of anarchy sixty years 
after its close, and will be chararterized near its center by 
a great tornado of war in the East, which will begin at the 
close of the Millennial era. A primary theocratic cycle 
will then follow after the secondary theocratic cycle, as 
the outcome of a victory in favor of a free international 
government. 

Our diagram shows that Messianic ideas (including the 
true and the false) progress the most steadily in the be- 
ginning and end of the age. The detached Messianic cycle 
occurs near the center of the world's fourth day, with a 
lengthy interval before and after it. A protracted non- 
Messianic era, including 1,521 years, extends from the cycle 
of unsuccessful effort to establish a Messianic center at 
Babel, to the detached Messianic cycle; and a second pro- 
tracted non-Messianic era extends from A. D. 1032 to the 
twentieth year of the first trumpet, in all 1,289 years. 
Four hundred and twenty-one years of that non-Messianic 
era fall after the close of the nineteenth century A, D, 

The longest continuous era of error extends from the 
beginning of the first cycle of anarchy to the cycle of the 
free government of Israel, including 1,590 years, B. C. 
3018-1428; and the two dark cycles of the progress of the 
Papacy together are the second in extent, lasting 1,040 
years, A. D. 542-1582. In the latter days there will be two 
short eras of night when error shall hold the sway, the 
first being the first twenty-one years of the fifth trumpet, 

342 



THE WORLD^S PEOGRESSIVE CYCLES 

or period of the Great Controversy ; and the second includ- 
ing the seventh trumpet, its penumbra darkening the first 
nine j^ears of the Millennial era and lasting thirty-nine 
3^ears. 

The world^s longest days of truth, exclusive of the in- 
tervals and twilight eras, include three 550-year cycles 
and two 490-year cycles. The age of man is almost equally 
spaced by the three 550-j'ear days, each successive cycle 
spacing off about one-third of the age. 

This age of the world is laid out on a threefold plan 
of five classes of cycles, embracing the seven-day plan of 
one class of c}xles, of 1,776 1-7 years each; the dispensa- 
tional plan of four twenty-three-century and four 1,260- 
year cycles ; and the Messianic and Theocratic plan of two 
classes of cycles, ten of each class, the 490 and 550-year 
cycles. Our Illustrated Plan of the AYorld^s Progressive 
Cycles gives a view of the combined threefold plan. Our 
age appears to be a Messianic week of a grand cycle, or age 
of ages. 



343 



CHAPTEE XXII 

Angels and Men 

Angels are the only spiritual beings who have ever 
come in visible contact with men. They are also called 
sons of God^ and are sometimes called men. (Job 1:6; 
2:1; Gen. 18:2.) 

The angels who appeared to men in the first several in- 
stances recorded in the Holy Scriptures, seem to have re- 
sembled men so closely that they were usually mistaken for 
men. Evidently they were of the order of angels referred 
to in Psalm 8 : 5, where it is written that man was- made 
a little lower than the angels. From Hebrews 2 : 7-9 it 
appears that the inferiority of man to the angels consisted 
in nothing" more than in being made subject to death, 
whereas angels do not die. We may therefore safely con- 
clude that man before the fall in Eden was equal to the 
angels. 

This further appears from the account that is given in 
the sixth chapter of Genesis, of the mingling of angels 
with men. The sons of God, the mighty men that were 
of old, were men of an earlier age ; and in the New Testa- 
ment Scriptures they are called angels. (Compare 1 Pet. 
3:19, 20; 4:6, with 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6.) Altho they 
were a different order of beings, they took them wives of 
the daughters of men, and had children by them, who were 
the giants of their day. That was an unlawful act; for 

344 



ANGELS AND MEN 

our Lord expressly taught that the angels do not marry, 
and that marriage for the human race is to be restricted 
to this age (Matt. 22:30; Mark 12:25; Luke 20:35). 
Marriage is confined to the procreative period of a race 
of beings, and was undoubtedly an institution that the 
angels once had; and when they saw the fair daughters of 
Eve they desired to return to their original social con- 
ditions. 

The amalgamation of two different orders of beings 
was the worst form of immorality that could have been 
brought upon the world, and was the probable cause of the 
human race being nearly exterminated. The angels who 
sinned were swept away by the flood of Noah, along with 
the people they had helped to corrupt ; and when, at a later 
time, a race of giants again appeared in the land of Ca- 
naan, the nation of Israel were sent against them on a 
war of extermination. After those days the terrestrial an- 
gels disappeared, and so did the giants. 

The appearance of angels seems to have been a com- 
mon-place matter until the times of the judges of Israel, 
when their visits become more rare. Abraham entertained 
three angels as he would have entertained men, probably 
thinking that they were men ; and the Sodomites attempted 
to make prisoners of the two who came to their city. When 
the angels met Jacob, he only remarked that they were 
God^s host, and called the place Mahanaim, because they 
were in two companies. 

In their deportment the angels appeared very human- 
like; but some of their feats were of a superhuman char- 
acter. They had power over the elements of nature, and 
could scatter pestilence and inflict plagues, and could con- 
ceal their presence from the eyes of men. They appear 
to have taken up a temporary abode on our earth as guard- 
ians of our race until law and order could be brought 

345 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

about for bettering the social condition of men; but, with 
the exception of the class who left their o^\ti habitation to 
mingle with men, they took no part in the works of men. 
The three who dined with Abraham appear to have made 
an exception to what angels generally did ; for in nearly all 
other recorded instances they declined to eat, or else re- 
vealed their message and departed. Their food during 
their stay on earth was probably manna, such as God sent 
to the children of Israel; for it is written, *^^Men did eat 
angels^ food,'^ or, ^^the bread of the mighty'^ (Psa. 78: 25). 

Two conventions of angels are mentioned in the Book 
of Job (1:6; 2:1). The age to which Job lived makes 
it appear probable that he lived in the era to which Abra- 
ham belonged when the limit of human life began to be 
reduced to one or two centuries. Probably he lived a little 
earlier than Abraham, for he was pronounced to be the 
only perfect and upright man in all the earth, which could 
not have been the case if he had been a contemporary of 
faithful Abraham. The circumstances that are related 
concerning those conventions show that their proceedings 
had something to do with our race. Satan took part in 
their deliberations; and his answer, that he had been go- 
ing up and down in the earth, and walking to and fro in 
it, indicates that he then had the same liberty that has 
since been accorded to him, of going about as a roaring 
lion, seeking whom he may devour. He wanted to slander 
the whole race of man, not even sparing the perfect and 
upright Job ; and Job^s ability to endure the severe tests 
that Satan put upon him probably decided the question at 
issue, as to whether the race were worth, preserving. 

It was probably about one generation later that a 
committee of three were sent by the angels to investigate 
concerning the reports of the wickedness of Sodom and 
Gomorrah. They did not spare the wicked community for 

346 



ANGELS AND MEN 

the sake of the one righteous man who lived there, bnt sent 
Lot away with his wife and daughters, agreeably to tha 
prayers of Abraham, that they would not slay the righteous 
with the wicked. 

What is recorded about the two conventions of angels 
and of the actions of the committee who were sent to Sodom, 
goes to show that the keeping of the human race was to 
some extent committed into their care. They were the leg- 
islators of the laws that were delivered to Moses (Acts 
7: 53). Those laws being framed by angels, they were of 
higher authority than any human code of laws, and served 
to regulate the social condition of men until the Prophet 
should come of whom Moses foretold, and give to the world 
a higher system of laws than the race were then pre- 
pared for. 

The angels of New Testament times are uniformly de- 
scribed as beings who were bright and shining, and clothed 
in white raiment. They may be of a higher order than 
the angels of Old Testament times. Only two of the an- 
gels have been revealed by name, and they are Michael and 
Gabriel. Michael is called a prince, and Gabriel always 
appeared in the character of a messenger. He was sent to 
interpret Daniel^s visions and to announce the birth of 
John the Baptist and of Jesus the Savior. 

Satan is the only one of the demons who is called by 
name, and his common appellation is the devil. Satan is 
the only demon who ever appeared to any human being, 
and he appeared to Eve in the form of a serpent; but he 
never appeared but the once. He may have employed a 
serpent to speak thru, and for that reason he is called 
a serpent himself. In no other instance of his contact 
with men can it be clearly shown that he ever appeared 
visibly. The devil and his angels have probably descended 
from a high order of beings, who fell before the creation 

347 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

of man. They are not to be confused with the angels 
who fell after Adam ; for they appear to bear no nearer 
relation to them than they do to our own race. 

The angels who fell with man will be judged along 
with men in the great judgment day; and what is more 
remarkable^ they will be made subject to men in the age 
to come. ( See 1 Cor. 6 : 3, and the first chapter of He- 
brews.) 



348 



CHAPTER XXIII 

The Two Trinities 

Three orders of beings f ell^ viz. : the gods^ the human 
race^ and the angels. The various features of the fall are 
being revealed in the seven epochs of the world; but the 
character of fallen beings is being revealed thru the three 
forms of idolatry, and the final revelation of the man of 
sin will be thru three variations of the third form of idol- 
atry, called Antichrist. Satan^ Adam, and Eve are the 
types of the three forms of Antichrist, which correspond 
with their types in the order of their creation; the first 
rising in an earlier dispensation than the two latter, which 
are to rise in the same era, with only about four hundred 
j'ears^ difference in the time of their origin. The differ- 
ence of location is equally striking, the Papal power origi- 
nating in Europe, while the two later Antichrist powers 
are to rise in America. The order of their revelation also 
corresponds with the steps of the first transgression. The 
old form of Antichrist, the antitype of Satan, will be the 
first to finish its revelation; and the third form of Anti- 
christ, the antitype of Eve, will be revealed and finish 
its course the second in order. The second form of Anti- 
christ, the antitype of Adam, who concealed his sin, will 
be Antichrist in disguise. It took a second man, in the 
person of Noah^ to reveal Adam^s sin; and N'oah is more 

349 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

properly the type of the second form of Antichrist in the 
second era of its revelation. 

The general character of the three forms of Antichrist 
as they are prophetically described also agrees with their 
types. The old form of Antichrist is the embodiment of 
Satanic wickedness and enmity against God. The second 
form of Antichrist will come in disguise; but in the era 
of its final revelation it will be the great saloon power of 
the East. The third form of Antichrist will aspire to 
surpass all other powers as Eve also aspired to be as the 
gods. 

The old form of Antichrist in its own appropriate char- 
acter is neither a political nor a military power^ and the 
efforts of the Papal powers to get beyond their sphere 
brought on the thirty years' war of Europe. They have 
never yet had the opportunity of ruling in a political ca- 
pacity by taking the absolute control of the government 
into their own hands^ and will be given sixty-five years in 
America to make the experiment; but it will never be re- 
peated. In the first trumpet^ when they shall set up their 
first Messiah^ they will then employ military authority; 
but that era of military government will likewise be their 
last. 

The second form of Antichrist will be the world's great 
military power; and when the Dragon shall take the Mes- 
sianic throne he will employ arms to stand on his part^ 
and will sweep away all opposition. As a military power 
they will succeed^ becausje they will be acting in their own 
appropriate capacity. It Avill be thru them that the old 
power will make their successful expeditions against the 
South; but as soon as they shall again set up a Messiah 
of their own their military achievements will come to 
an end. 

The third form of Antichrist will aspire after political 

350 



THE TWO TEINITIES 

supremacy, but will really be a form of organized anarchy, 
or anarchy in disguise. That is why they will employ their 
statesman-like ability as the hammer of the earth, to break 
up the governments of the world. Their purpose to change 
the times and the laws will be accomplished thru their per- 
severing efforts in smiting the nations with a continual 
stroke. In the last seven years of the sixth trumpet the 
Messianic authority will be delegated to them by the old 
power. The Antichrist union at that time will add greatly 
to their strength, and that will be the era of their greatest 
power ; and the deviFs trinity, the Messianic, military, and 
political powers of Antichrist, will then co-operate together. 
We now turn to view the trinity of Christ, and we see 
a similar relation between original Christianity and the 
old power of Antichrist to that which existed between the 
era of angelic rectitude and the fall of the angels under 
Satan. Three representative characters also seem clearly 
indicated as the types of the Christian trinity, and they 
are Moses, Elijah, and Christ. The scene on the Mount 
of Transfiguration was the counterpart of the scene in the 
garden of Eden. In the first scene there were three fallen 
beings, who were the types of the fall in its final revela- 
tion; in the second scene there were three glorified beings, 
who were the types of the restoration in the latter days. 
The Messianic throne was promised to the Lord^s Christ, 
the son of David, who was therefore the type of the Mes- 
sianic institution. Moses the lawgiver represents the legal 
branch of the Christian trinity; and Elijah, the military 
prophet, who conquered Baal, represents the Church mili- 
tant. The reformed Christian institution of the last three 
trumpets will be a Messianic institution; the reformed 
Jews of the East will constitute the Church militant, and 
the reformed Jewish body of the West will be the Church 
politic. ISTotice the similarity of terms that Jeremiah ap- 

351 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

plies to the third person of the two trinities. He calls the 
Anarchists the hammer of the earth, and the politic Jews 
the Lord's battle-ax. (Cp. Jer. 50 : 23 ; 51 : 20.) 

In the seventh trumpet the Messianic Christian body 
and the body politic will unite against the united forces 
of the old Antichrists and Anarchists. There will then be 
two bodies of the same rank on each side, the two military 
bodies remaining neutral. In the early part of the Mil- 
lennial era the military Antichrists Avill go to the far East 
to await their future conflict with the Church militant. 
The other two forms of Antichrist will have finished their 
course before the conflict shall begin, and will take no part 
in it, and neither will the other two branches of the 
Church, so that there will be one branch of the same rank 
on each side to tread that winepress of war. It will be 
the only purely military conflict the world shall ever see; 
and its sanguinary description, as given by Nahum, agrees 
with its military character. 

The devil will never get the absolute control in the 
world until his trinity shall unite; and that Antichrist 
union will probably last seven years, in the latter part of 
the sixth trumpet. The trinity of the Church will also 
unite after the post-Millennial military conflict. The 
bringing in of the Church militant to complete the Chris- 
tian trinity will then give the Church the same advantage 
that the Antichrists had before, for gaining and exercising 
absolute authority, and that era of Christian power will 
probably include a corresponding number of years. If it 
is the seven-year period mentioned by Ezekiel, as is prob- 
ably the case, the military power of the Church will not 
be employed to fight, but to destroy the deviPs military sys- 
tem after the war shall end. The Church militant will 
stand for protection ; but it will not be protection by armies 
and navies, for then war shall cease. 

352 



CHAPTEE XXIV 

The Judgment and the New Creation 

John's description of the Judgment and the New Crea- 
tion applies to the last days of this age in type ; but the anti- 
type must be kept in view^ to suit the conditions of the 
prophecy, because some of the features of the Judgment 
and the I^ew Creation can only apply to this age, and others 
can only be adapted to the age to come. This mingling 
of the type and antitype is equally true of Isaiah's de- 
scription of the New Creation. Those prophecies will be 
fulfilled in type in the last days of this age; the antitype 
is the wider fulfillment, including the age to come. 

Eead John's description of the Judgment, bringing out 
the features of the Judgment era of this age : "And I saw 
a great white throne and Him that sat upon it, from 
whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there 
was found no place for them." Both the legal and the 
religious powers of the earlier eras had passed away. "And 
I saw the dead small and great stand before the throne," — 
all the dead causes of the past — ^^and books were opened," 
— ^the records of those dead causes— '^'^and another book was 
opened, which is the book of life." Our Bible is the book 
of life, by which all other books are judged. "And the 
dead were judged. . . . And the sea . . . and 
death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them;" 
the productions of the masses, and of all wicked and cor- 
rupt institutions were brought up for judgment. "And 
23 353 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

death and Hades^' — evil works and mixtures of good and 
evil — ^Svere cast into the lake of fire/^ or consigned to 
utter destruction. 

Now read John's description of the Judgment, as it 
applies to the age to come. 

^^And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat 
upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
away; and there was found no place for them.^^ The One 
from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away will 
place His throne upon the earth for judgment. It is the 
Theocratic dispensation, bordering upon the end of the age. 
"And I saw the dead, the great and the small, stand be- 
fore the throne ; and books were opened ; and another book 
was opened which is the book of life.^^ Every person's 
life is a book in God's remembrance. The Lamb of God 
is said to have a book of life containing the names of 
the saved (Rev. 13:8; 17:8). "And the sea gave up 
the dead that were in it; and death and Hades gave up 
the dead that were in them: and they were judged every 
man according to their works.'' The dead in Christ will 
be raised and taken away along with their Lord at the 
end of the age (1 Thess. 4:15-17). "And death and 
Hades were cast into the lake of fire." Our system of 
worlds will be broken up and dissolved by fire (2 Pet. 
3: 10). "This is the second death, even the lake of fire. 
And if any was not found written in the book of life, he 
was cast into the lake of fire" (Rev. 20: 11-15). 

After the age of Judgment and of the separation of 
the good and evil, the earth will be given to the dominion 
of the saints; for, "according to His promise, we look for 
new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous- 
ness" (2 Pet. 3:13). 

Read the description of the New Creation as it is 
given by Isaiah and John, first, as it applies to this age. 

354 



THE JUDGMENT AND THE NEW CREATION 

Isaiah. — "For behold^ I create new heavens and a new 
earth; and the former shall not be remembered nor come 
into mind/' because of the superiority of the new order of 
things. "Be ye glad, and rejoice forever in that which I 
create : for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her 
people a joy. . . . There shall not be thence an in- 
fant of days [or imbecile], nor an old man that hath not 
filled his days/^ by not rightly employing his life : "for the 
child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner, be- 
ing an hundred years old, shall be accursed." The sinner 
can not be blessed in his sins, even under the dominion of 
the Theocracy. "They shall build houses, and inhabit 
them." the people who do righteously. . . . "They 
shall not build and another inhabit; for as the days of a 
tree are the days of My people; and Mine elect shall long 
enjoy the work of their hands." The people of God will 
fully enjoy their rights, and will have settled peace and 
security. "They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth 
for calamity; for they are the seed of the blessed of Je- 
hovah, and their offspring with them. . . . Before 
they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, 
I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, 
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." This is spoken 
figuratively of the moral regeneration of the lawless, but 
may be also literally true. "And dust shall be the ser- 
pent^s food/^ figuratively spoken of the fate of the Anti- 
christs, whose works will be destroyed. "They shall not 
hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith Jehovah." 

"For as the new heaven and the new earth which I will 
make, shall remain before Me, so shall your seed and your 
name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one 
new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, 
shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith Jehovah." 
Worship will not be intermittent and devoted to seasons, 

355 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

but will be open at all times. ^^And they shall go forth, 
and look upon the carcasses of the men that have trans- 
gressed against Me: for their worm shall not die, neither 
shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring 
unto all flesh/^ The dead causes of wickedness shall be 
regarded with abhorrence, and consigned to destruction. 
(See Isaiah 65: 17-25; 66: 22-24.) 

John. — "And I saw a new heaven and a new eartlr^ — 
a new order of things, both of Church and State. "The 
first heaven and the first earth [the old order of things] 
are passed away; and the sea is no more.'' All non- 
political organizations will cease to exist. "And I saw 
the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven 
from God, made ready as a bride prepared for her hus- 
band.'^ The New Jerusalem represents the Theocratic in- 
stitution. The figure of a bride is used, because the Mil- 
lennial body will unite with it. "And there came one of 
the seven angels who had the seven bowls^' (the prophetic 
way of giving the time of the origin of the Millennial in- 
stitution) "and he spake with me, saying. Come hither, 
I will show thee the bride, the wife of the Lamb.^' The 
Theocratic institution is the bride, and the Millennial in- 
stitution is the Lamb. The united institution will be the 
perfected Theocracy, the New Jerusalem, whose streets of 
gold and gates of pearl and foundations of precious stones 
are sj^mbols of its excellence. (See twenty-first chapter of 
Eevelation.) 

Now read those prophecies as they apply to the future 
age, called the New Creation, when the worlds shall be 
created anew. 

Isaiah. — "For behold, I create new heavens and a new 
earth,'^ when the worlds shall be formed anew. "And the 
former things shall not be remembered, nor come into 
mind.'' It will not be desirable to reproduce the things 

356 



THE JUDGMENT AND THE NEW CREATION 

of the past age. ^^But be ye glad and rejoice forever in 
that which I create. . . • And I will , . . Joy 
in My people: and the voice of weeping shall no more be 
heard . . . nor the voice of crying. . . . For as 
the days of a tree shall be the days of My people, and My 
chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands; . . . 
for they are the seed of the blessed of Jehovah. . . . 
And it shall come to pass that before they call^ I will 
answer ; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear. They 
shall not hurt nor destroy . . . saith Jehovah.^^ 

John. — ^^And I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for 
the first heaven and the first earth were passed away.^^ 
The former age has ended, and a new age has began; and 
creation has been renewed. ^^And the sea is no more.^^ 
The sea will be done away, to increase the land surface 
of the earth. . ^^And I heard a great voice out of the 
throne, saying. Behold, the tabernacle of God is with 
men, and He shall dwell with them, and they shall be 
His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be 
their God; and He shall wipe away every tear from their 
eyes; and death shall be no more; neither shall there be 
mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more : the first things 
are passed away. And He that sitteth on the throne said. 
Behold, I make all things new. I am the Alpha and the 
Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him 
that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 
He that overcometh shall inherit these things; and I will 
be his God, and he shall be My Son. . . . And he 
showed me a river of water of life, bright as crystal, 
proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb; 
. . . and on this side of the river and on that was 
the tree of life. . . . And there shall be no curse any 
more; and the throne of God and the Lamb shall be 
therein: and His servants shall serve Him; and they 

357 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

shall see His face; and His name shall be on their fore- 
heads. And there shall be night no more; . . . and 
They shall reign for ever and ever/^ 

It would be difficult to paraphrase the foregoing prophe- 
cies so as to bring out with very great precision the points 
of difference and agreement that exist between the type 
and the antitype^ partly because we do not understand 
clearly enough the conditions of the future age ; but enough 
has been revealed of these things to make it clear that in 
some particulars the antitype will far exceed the type^ and 
that some of those points of surpassing excellence are 
mingled in the prophecies of last things. 

Isaiah describes the highest perfection of this age by 
way of comparison with the age to come^ and the most of 
his prophecy does not surpass the type; but John dwells 
more fully upon the antitype. The river qf life^ as Eze- 
kiel describes it, is applicable to this age; but the river 
and the tree of life of John's prophecy is an ideal that 
can only be fully realized in the age to come. It is a 
prophetic vision of the perfect restoration of the race, un- 
der the most favora.ble circumstances. 



358 



( 



CHAPTEE XXV 

The Wonders of the Age 

One of the greatest wonders of the age is the Bible 
with its prophetic revelations^ covering the entire plan of 
the Age. The language of prophecy is also a wonder, 
being a language of its own, whether it is expressed in 
Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, German, or any other lan- 
guage; and the most imperfect translation can not obliter- 
ate its meaning. It is highly figurative, abounding in al- 
legories, metaphors, similes, parables, enigmas, charades, 
and many other figures of speech; and the most striking 
figure of all is its double interpretation. 

The prophecy of Genesis 3:15, that the seed of the 
woman shall bruise the serpent^s head, has its higher ful- 
fillment in Christ; but there will be a secondary fulfill- 
ment in two of the deviFs trinity. The head of the ser- 
pent will be the Antichrist Messiah of the sixth trumpet; 
' and the seed of the woman will be the Antichrist An- 
archists, who will give a deathstroke to the old power of 
Antichrist. The final bruising of Satan will be accom- 
plished thru the Messianic Millennial institution. 

The Messianic prophecies have their typical fulfillment 
in Christ, but they are yet to be fulfilled in His body, the 
Church. The Messianic cycle of Christ^s incarnation was 
the earlier and typical fulfillment of DaniePs seventy 
weeks^ prophecy ; but the prophecy will have its perfect ful- 

359 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

fiUment in the Messianic cycle that shall precede Christ's 
Millennial kingdom. John's prophecy of the two witnesses 
will be fulfilled in the two witnessing institutions of Jews 
and Christians in the coming 1^260-day cycle, and will 
likewise be fulfilled in the two witnessing servants of 
Christ, who shall prophesy for 1,260 days in the closing 
part of the sixth trumpet. 

Some of the features of the Christian dispensation will 
be reproduced in the Messianic dispensation. The Church 
of the future will witness and suffer as the Church of the 
past, and the Antichrist of the future will be of the same 
general characteristics as the Antichrist of the past. The 
ten powers of Europe that figured during the rise of the 
Papal power will likewise have their duplicate in the 
future ten branches of Antichrist. 

The representative and racial plan of the fall and res- 
toration is also one of the wonders of the age. Three 
types of the fall were introduced at the beginning of the 
age. Two of them were human, and one was superhuman, 
clothed in the flesh of a serpent. Three types of the res- 
toration were introduced at the beginning of the Christian 
era. Two of them were human, and one was superhuman, 
clothed in the flesh of a man. The antitypes of those two 
trios are the two Antichrist and Christian trinities that 
are yet to come; one the trinity of Satan, and the other 
the trinity of Christ. 

The plan of the age is a wonder. It is somewhat com- 
plex when viewed in its entirety, being laid out in several 
classes of cycles. In a general sense it is a triple plan, 
consisting of a seven-day plan, a dispensational plan, and 
a governmental plan. The seven-day plan occupies the full 
age of the world: but its meaning is shrouded in mystery. 
It consists of but one class of cycles, of 1,776 1-7 years 
each, and dates 1,133 years back of the creation of man. 

360 



THE WONDERS OF THE AGE 

We have seen that some epoch of the fall appears to char* 
acterize each successive day. 

The 2,300-day cycles of the dispensational plan are 
eras of the divine administration. Those four great cycles 
occupy the full age of man^ which shows that God^s ad- 
ministration never ceases, even tho a 1,260-day cycle of 
the dispensation of Satan is included within each of the 
2,300-day cycles. Satan figures as the god of this age, 
and is permitted to reveal his character thru his govern- 
ment of men; but if his claims of authority were valid 
the 2,300-day cycles would belong to him. If he were 
equal with God, the two dispensations would succeed each 
other alternately; but the plan of the age indicates that 
he is a usurper. 

The wheel within constantly shifts its position. The 
first 1,260-day cycle occupied the last 1,260 years of the 
first partial great cycle. The dispensation of God was then 
changed from the Theocratic to the Legal, and the anarch- 
ists were swept away. The world was then able to hold 
out against Satan long enough to defer his next dispen- 
sation until the closing part of the first full cycle. 

In the second full cycle, the dispensation of Grace, he 
obtained an earlier era and set up his administration in 
the center of the cycle. Under the Messianic dispensation 
he will set up his dominion in the very beginning of the 
cycle, which indicates his growing power in the world. 

The 490 and 550-year cycles represent the ideas of 
men as they crystallize and develop into organizations. 
They are the man side of the dispensations. The 490-year 
cycle stands for the iron administration of government by 
law, and the 550-year cycle stands for liberty. Men love 
liberty better than they love law, but are not able to dis- 
-tinguish between liberty and anarchy. Five cycles were 
fulfilled before the nation of Israel began to apprehend 

361 



THE HISTOEIC MEANING OF PROPHECY 

the true idea of liberty* Three cycles and two lengthy in- 
tervals, in all equal to five cycles, have since been fulfilled 
before the Christianized masses began to apprehend the 
true idea of liberty. The coming cycle will be an era of 
fighting for liberty against Antichrist despotism. Five 
cycles, including that cycle of liberty in arms, will be ful- 
filled before the third cycle of liberty and peace. Both 
Jews and Christians will then be able to apprehend the 
true idea of liberty, and the world at large will be prepared 
to appreciate it. 

The three cycles of free government will all differ from 
each other. The present cycle of liberty differs from the 
cycle of the free government of Israel, and the cycle of 
the future Theocracy will differ from the present cycle. 
It is also true of all the cycles that no two of them will 
be alike. They will bear a general resemblance as eras 
of law and liberty, and of their counterfeits of despotism 
and anarchy; but no two of the twenty cycles will rep- 
resent the same set of ideas. The meaning of it is that 
men are taking up one leading and universal issue at a 
time, so that the social conditions of the race are con- 
stantly changing; but the changes are so gradual that 
they can not be discerned until after the successive eras 
have been fulfilled. In the age of conflict that is now ap- 
proaching, two universal issues of an opposite character 
will be taken up at the same time. 

Five experimental eras occur in the plan of the age. 
The first was the era of the founders of the race on trial; 
the second was the era of experiment of controlling a free 
government by a monarch; the third was the era of a uni- 
versal and non-political gospel institution on trial; the 
fourth will be the era of effort to control a free govern- 
ment by a Papal hierarch; the fifth will be the era of a 
Messianic Christian government on trial. 

36» 



THE WONDERS OF THE AGE 

Those experimental eras are closely connected with all 
that comes between them. The first five cycles that were 
fulfilled after the fall revealed the necessity of law and 
men^s desire for liberty; and the cycle of liberty that suc- 
ceeded after those five cycles prepared the world for the 
experiment of trying to reconcile monarchy and free gov- 
ernment. The failure revealed the necessity of something 
that would succeed^ and the lone cycle was the era of that 
recognized necessity. A universal and non-political gospel 
institution was given to the world and proved to be a suc- 
cess as long as it remained as such ; but after it was 
brought into the dominion of politics it degenerated into a 
Messianic Antichrist institution of political aspirations, 
which is the meaning of the past two cycles. 

The Reformation of the present cycle restored the 
Church to its proper' sphere; but Antichrist still exists, and 
will be tested in its political character in the next experi- 
mental era, and will fail. A cycle of liberty in arms, fol- 
lowed by a cycle of anarchy in arms, will afterward be ful- 
filled before the world shall be fully prepared for the suc- 
cessful experiment of an international Christian govern- 
ment, which will continue thru two cycles of Messianic ad- 
ministration, in opposition to Antichrist and Anarchy, 
and will afterward be perpetuated as an International 
Theocracy. 

Four pivotal changes will take place that will ma- 
terially affect the governmental outlook of the world, and 
each resulting out of an important confiict. The first will 
occur in an era including the seventh seal (of one year) 
and the first twenty years of the first trumpet; and the 
contending parties will be the Roman Catholics and the 
Protestants. It will be a sanguinary conflict, settled by 
force of arms; and the Catholics will come off victorious 
and establish a Messianic era of the false Messiah. 

863 



THE HISTOKIC MEANING OF PKOPHECY 

The second conflict will occur in the first twenty-one 
years of the fifth trumpet ; and the contending parties will 
be a body of Messianic Christians yet to rise, and three 
forms of Antichrist, two of which are yet to come. It 
will be a purely spiritual conflict, and will be a victory 
for truth; and the Messianic Christians will be victorious 
and will establish a Messianic era of the authority of 
Christ. 

The third conflict will be in the beginning of the Mil- 
lennial era, and the contending parties will be the Mes- 
sianic Jews and Dragon Antichrists. It will be a legal 
conflict, judged before an international Christian tribunal ; 
and the Jews will be victorious, and their victory will be 
followed by the establishment of an international Chris- 
tian kingdom. 

The fourth conflict will occur after the post-Millennial 
wars shall end, and the contending parties will be the 
consolidated body of Jews and Christians and the unified 
Antichrist body. It will be a legal conflict, judged before 
a universal Christian tribunal, and the Jewish-Christian 
body will be victorious, and their victory will be followed 
by the establishment of a Universal Theocracy. 

The first 1,133 years of this age is prehistoric, and the 
last 1,133 years is prophetic. Nothing has been revealed 
of the first except the circumstance of a prehistoric fall; 
but it has been revealed prophetically that the early part 
of the last 1,133 years will be an era of agitation among 
the nations of the world with regard to the bringing in 
of the desirable things of the last days, and that a gi- 
gantic Antichrist power will have to be overthrown before 
those desirable things can be obtained. 

Since our world contains a pattern of heavenly things, 
it is quite probable that the war in heaven referred to by 
our Lord in Luke 10:18, and described allegorically by 

S64 



THE WONDEES OF THE AGE 

.John in Eevelation 12 : 7-9, bears a general resemblance 
.to a future latter-day conflict that will result in casting 
Satan down and casting him out of the dominion of our 
earth in the beginning of the last 1,133 years of the age, 
in an era extending from the 671st year of the Millennial 
era to the beginning of the final 550-year cycle. 

When Satan was cast down from heaven he was cast 
down to our world along with his demons, and that was 
the beginning of the tribulations of this age. He has 
since been striving to gain on earth the dominion he lost 
in heaven. The human race fell under his power thru 
their representative heads, and in less than four centuries 
later the angels fell also. They were a prehistoric race, 
resembling our own, and probably occupied our earth in 
the age preceding the creation of man. 

Some subtle working of error has been espoused by 
Satan that is now working out in this age and nearing its 
revelation, and the era of revelation will be the seven 
trumpets. The first half of the age, which was fulfilled 
before Christ, was a practical revelation of wickedness in 
fallen men and fallen angels and fallen celestial spirits. 
In the last half of the age the doctrinal character of Sa- 
tan^s errors will be revealed. In this era of the seven 
seals the earth is being fully populated and civilized, and 
the masses are being educated and evangelized, and the 
doctrinal institution of Satan is being fully developed. 
The formulation of Antichrist doctrines and their practical 
effects upon the social condition of mankind will be a 
characteristic feature of the era of the seven trumpets. 

The circumstances of those perilous times have been 
foreshadowed in the prophetic dreams of Pharaoh, king 
of Egypt. The double seven of those dreams appears in 
the plan of the seven seals and the seven trumpets, and the 
dreams fulfilled illustrates their prophetic meaning. In 

365 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OP PROPHECY 

the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by hand- 
fuls ; and in the seven years of famine the resources of the 
first seven years were exhausted, and the masses were barely 
able to tide over the famine. The general character of 
the seven seals is to be that of an era of increasing popu- 
lation until the earth shall be filled with inhabitants and 
the earth^s resources shall be fully developed. The gen- 
eral character of the seven trumpets will be that of an 
era of consumption of the masses of mankind by war, 
famine, and pestilence, and evil beasts (Ezek. 14). 

The deviFs Diabolic dispensation will include the sixth 
and seventh seals and the seven trumpets. The sixth and 
seventh seals will be the introductory period of his Dia- 
bolic dispensation, when he shall begin by setting the law 
aside; and the seven trumpets will be the era of diabolic 
legislation, when mischief shall he framed by statute and 
the deviFs own laws will be given to the world thru his 
Messianic authorities (Psa. 94:20). 

The general effect of diabolic administration will be 
to consume and to destroy. God will preserve His elect 
from being destroyed thru His providential care of them; 
but He will turn the Satanic powers loose against each 
other. Prior to the time of the great international wars 
of the sixth trumpet, in the world^s great fight against 
anarchy, the scourges of those times will affect but a part 
of the world at a time. But after that era of war every 
scourge of the world will be universal in its extent, owing 
to the international character of that era. 

In the light of the foregoing explanations the mean- 
ing of the general consumption that has been foretold of 
those times can be understood. Isaiah wrote, ^^I have 
heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even 
determined upon the whole earth.^^ Zephaniah wrote: "I 
will utterly consume all things from off the land • 

366 



THE WONDEES OF THE AGE 

mian and beast . . . fowls . . . fishes. . . . T 
will cut man from off the land, saith the Lord/^ The 
destruction of the destroyers in their wars upon each 
other, and the terrible visitations that shall be sent upon 
the deviFs polity, will threaten to depopulate the world; 
and the masses will be barely able to tide over the con- 
suming calamities of those perilous times. 

Our race have already passed thru a great deal of suf- 
fering and tribulation in consequence of their fall; but 
nothing is so dreadful to the world as the deviFs admin- 
istration, and no era of Satan's dispensation has been so 
terrible as will be the one that is yet to come. Eead 
Matthew 24: 21, 22, and reflect upon the weight of those 
words. The seven seals will occupy twenty-three centu- 
ries; but the seven trumpets will last only 1,091 years, 
which is less than half as long; for a like protraction of 
that fateful era would depopulate the world. 

Nebuchadnezzar's seven years of insanity illustrates 
the insane era of Satan's administration, in the times of 
the false Messiahs. The overflowing scourges of Antichrist 
will continue with increasing severity and universality 
until the Lord's Christ shall end those terrors by placing 
His dominion upon the earth. In great contrast with the 
insane rule of Satan will be the wise administration of 
Christ for subduing the enemies of our race until even 
death shall be destroyed. 

The general plan of the age reveals an equality of 
authority and a balancing of power between Satan and 
Christ, and also recognizes Satan as the earliest claimant. 
In one respect he appears to have a show of preference, 
and that is in the dispensational plan. The Satanic dis- 
pensation covers 1,260 years of each twenty-three-century 
cycle, which is 110 years more than half of each large 
cycle, and makes an aggregate of 440 years' excess in the 

367 



THE HISTOEIC MEANHSTG OP PROPHECY 

#ra8 of the four dispensations. The balancing of this^ 
excess must be accounted for in the prehistoric 1,133 years 
of the age, and would divide that era into 346 years of 
the dominion of Satan and 786 years of the dominion of 
Christ, with an odd year remaining. That odd year, en- 
tering as it does into the prehistoric plan and held over 
until the beginning of the seventh trumpet, stands for the 
decisive Messianic year. It means that the question of 
Satan^s authority was not settled, and for some reason 
could not be settled, before the creation of m.an. The two 
claimants were therefore placed upon an equal footing 
until Satan's authority could be lawfully set aside. 

Ever since the creation of man Satan has contended 
for the authority of our world with great determination, 
and never gives way to Christ without compulsion. Each 
Satanic dispensation reveals an effort on the part of Sa- 
tan to lengthen out his era of power beyond the 1,260 years 
that have been accorded to him ; and each time he changes 
his tactics in order to carry his point. 

In the antediluvian era he continued his lawless do- 
minion for one hundred and twenty years after his first 
dispensation had ended, or until the flood of Noah swept 
away his subjects. At the end of his second dispensation 
he set up the abomination of desolation by the hand of 
Antiochus the Grecian, and attempted to enforce the sub- 
jection of the Jews, but failed, and lost his cause. In the 
last thirty years of his third dispensation he employed 
military power to enforce the subjection of the Protestant 
reformers, in order to perpetuate his authority; but failed 
again. 

In his future dispensation he will set up the abomina- 
tion of desolation at the very beginning of his administra- 
tion, to crush out Protestantism. After failing again, he 
will employ military power on the high seas, and receive 

368 



THE WONDERS OF THE AGE 

a great naval overthrow. He will afterward bring anarchy 
upon the world, and combine his former methods with law- 
lessness, in order to crush out the Messianic reformation; 
and after the overthrow of anarchy he will contend by 
law, even after the Messianic authority of the Lord's 
Christ will have been proclaimed by both heaven and earth. 
He will strive to keep out the Jews, for Christ was a Jew ; 
and should Satan succeed in his purpose the world would 
be deprived of the True Messiah. Satan's great fight in 
the East after the Millennial era will be an effort to re- 
store his lost dominion. After his defeat he will go to 
contending by law as before, but will lose his cause, and 
his dominion will be taken away. 

The world's great foe is one that heaven has to reckon 
with as well as our earth. Other orders of spiritual beings 
have fallen, as well as man, and we know not how many 
worlds have been affected by the fall; but it probably af- 
fects our entire system of worlds to such an extent that 
nothing short of a general breaking up of the solar system 
can end the anarchy that Satan has determined upon. 
He has thrown things out of course in all the realm of 
the spiritual domain to which he formerly belonged; but 
the Son of God, who entered into the Father's council at 
the beginning of our creation, will receive again the 
authority that Satan has usurped. 

The True Messiah will return to our system of worlds 
twenty-nine centuries or more before the end of the age, 
and will probably visit all the worlds of our system. He 
will visit our earth twice before the end of the age, and 
in like manner will probably go from world to world, re- 
adjusting their social affairs preparatory to bringing about 
a new order of things and for the general restoration of 
all the different orders of fallen spiritual beings. 

In the era of the fourth trumpet there will be an inter- 
24 369 



THE HISTORIC MEANING OF PEOPHECY 

celestial convention in one of the upper worlds, for the 
purpose of deciding some matters of authority; and one 
of the thrones will be given to the Ancient of days. The 
magnitude of that convention is described by Daniel as 
one that will be exceedingly great. Millions stood before 
the Ancient of days, and a hundred millions ministered 
unto him. Delegates from all our celestial worlds will 
assuredly be there, and two from our own, the two who 
were transported from our earth. That was a feature of 
God^s plan for bestowing the kingdom of our world upon 
His Son. Other important matters regarding the other 
worlds will undoubtedly be settled at that convention, but 
Daniel speaks of that only which concerns our own. Sev- 
eral important international conventions will afterward be 
held on our earth, between the fourth trumpet and Mil- 
lennial era; and it is quite probable that several celestial 
and intercelestial conventions will take place within the 
same era, for the universal bringing in of the new order 
of things will be a stupendous change. 

Eevelation 17:10, 11 contains a prophetic suggestion 
of the universality of Satan's dominion; for the seven 
trumpets are an epitome of the plan of heavenly things. 
Satan controlled successively five celestial worlds: the five 
superior to our own; and since his downfall he has occu- 
pied our world, which is the Satanic dominion that now 
is; and the one that is yet to come is the next inferior 
world to which he will descend after being cast out of 
our earth. He will continue there but a short time, only a 
few centuries at most, until our system of worlds shall be 
broken up. 

Revelation 19 : 12 contains a prophetic suggestion of 
the universality of Christ's Messianic dominion at the be- 
ginning of the seventh trumpet. Every crown upon His 
head stands for a Messianic kingdom of Avhich He is the 

370 



THE WONDERS OF THE AGE 

Sovereign. There are seven worlds of our system besides 
our own, and our earth is ^^the eighth, and is of the 
seven/^ because it is the propagating nursery from which 
the other worlds have been peopled. That is the reason 
why Satan clings so tenaciously to the control of our 
world. He knows that if he could succeed in establishing 
his authority over our earth he could, in course of time, 
regain the dominion of the entire solar system. The 
question of dominion to be settled between Satan and 
Christ is therefore a stupendous matter, involving the des- 
tiny of a whole system of habitable worlds. 

The Lord^s Christ will be universally crowned by the 
beginning of the seventh trumpet, and the rest of the age 
(including eighteen centuries) will be an era of conquest; 
for He must reign till He hath put all His enemies under 
His feet; and the last enemy that shall be abolished is 
death (1 Cor. 15:25, 26). After that crowning victory 
of the age, the crowning wonder of the age will then fol- 
low, in the evacuation of the solar system by the True 
Messiah with all His elect and the breaking up of our 
system of worlds. 



371 



DEC 8 1910 



One copy del. to Cat. Div. 



